Can You Use PayPal to Get a Food Handlers Card?

Unsafe food handling by food employees in food establishments is a leading cause of foodborne illness.

For this reason, many states and counties require that food workers take a basic food safety training course and earn a food handlers card.

You can easily enroll and complete this food safety training — often referred to as food handler training — online from various accredited providers.

While the cost to enroll is relatively small, you might wonder whether you can use PayPal for payment.

This article breaks down whether you can use PayPal to get a food handlers card and explains who has to pay for your food handlers card.

How to pay for your food handlers card with PayPal

The process to earn your food handlers card is simpler and easier than ever.

Here’s the process in a nutshell:

1. Enroll in an approved food handler course
2. Complete the course modules
3. Pass the test and show off your card and certificate

Before you can enroll in an online food handler course, you must pay the small fee, which is usually around $15. Considering food handler cards are good for three years in most places, around five bucks a year isn’t too shabby.

You can earn your food handlers card for free in certain places but keep in mind that these free courses are usually not accepted by health departments or employers that require them.

As with most online purchases, you typically need to use a credit or debit card to pay for the food handler course.

However, many people prefer PayPal over traditional payment methods for online transactions for reasons related to convenience, security, and buyer protection.

PayPal also offer multiple ways to fund transactions, including credit cards, bank transfers, and available PayPal balances.

Unfortunately, many online food handler training providers don’t offer PayPal as a means to pay the enrollment fee.

For example, ServSafe, the National Registry of Foodservice Professionals (NRFSP), and StateFoodSafety only allow you to use a credit or debit card at checkout.

However, you can use PayPal to get a food handlers card with FoodSafePal.

In fact, FoodSafePal is one of the few accredited food handler training providers that accepts PayPal at checkout.

How to get your food handler card

If you need to earn your health department-approved food handlers card and want to pay using PayPal, FoodSafePal is your best bet.

FoodSafePal’s food handler training is ANSI-National Accreditation Board (ANAB) accredited and approved by most state and local health departments.

This accreditation is the same one that ServSafe possesses, indicating that FoodSafePal’s food handler training meets the same quality standards as ServSafe and is nationally approved.

After you choose your state and checkout using PayPal, you can start the course right away.

The course covers basic food safety topics including:

• good personal hygiene and handwashing
• time and temperature controls for food safety
• cleaning and sanitizing procedures

After you complete the course, you must past a 40-question multiple-choice test. A passing score is 70% (28 correct out of 40). If you don’t pass the first time, you can retest for free.

You can learn and test in under two hours.

After you pass, you can immediately download, print, or email your food handlers card and certificate.

Do you have to pay for your food handlers card?

Although $15 is a modest fee for training that remains valid for three years in most locations, you might question whether you are responsible for paying this cost or if your employer should cover it.

Unless you live in California, there are no state or local laws requiring employers to pay for their employees food handler cards.

California requires an employer to cover the costs for an employee to enroll in the course as well as pay for the time it takes them to complete the course and test.

For all other states, your employer can require a food handler card before or within a certain period of employment but they don’t have to pay for it.

It’s not a requirement for employers to pay for their employees’ food handler training since the food handler card — once earned — belongs to the employee and not the employer.

Employers can also view this training as a necessary qualification that makes someone suitable or qualified for the role.

However, some employers — recognizing the importance of food safety training while also understanding that the cost can be burdensome to some people — still cover the cost of training.

That said, it might be worth it to check with your employer. Even if you have already purchased and completed the training, they may still reimburse you.

The bottom line

Many people prefer to complete online transactions using PayPal due to its convenience, security features, and payment flexibility.

However, if you need to earn you food handlers card, most food handler training providers like ServSafe don’t accept PayPal.

Fortunately, you can use PayPal to get your food handlers card with FoodSafePal — which shares the same ANAB-accreditation as ServSafe and other food handler training providers — and the process is easy and simple.

Unless you live in California, your employeer isn’t required to pay for your food handlers card but it never hurts to ask.