Food handler card tracking: who has one and when it expires

What California asks of your business

The rule sits in Health and Safety Code section 113948, part of the California Retail Food Code. It gives duties to two people. The food handler has to get a card and keep it valid. The food business has to keep records proving each food handler has one.

It’s one of several California rules a food business keeps records for, alongside tip pools and all-in menu prices. This isn’t legal advice. Some counties run their own programs, covered below, and your local environmental health office decides how it checks. If your city runs its own environmental health office, ask it rather than the county. Confirm anything you’re unsure of with them or a lawyer.

Here is the state rule in short:

• A food handler hired on or after June 1, 2011 must get a card within 30 days after the date of hire.
• The card is valid for three years from the date it was issued, even if the person changes employers.
• It must come from a training provider accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The exam has at least 40 questions, and a score of 70% passes.
• Each food handler keeps a valid card for as long as they work as a food handler.
• The card is recognized across the state, except where a local program applies.
• Your business keeps records documenting that each food handler has a valid card, and gives them to the local enforcement officer on request.

Reference: California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113948 (opens in a new tab)

Who needs a card, and who doesn’t

The law defines a food handler as someone involved in the preparation, storage or service of food in a food facility that sells food to the public. That reaches well past the kitchen. Sonoma County’s environmental health page, for example, lists wait staff, cooks, bartenders, bussers, supervisors and managers, and hosts who handle food. The same page says paid staff on food trucks and carts count too.

Two groups fall outside the definition. Someone holding a valid food safety manager certificate doesn’t need a separate food handler card. Nor does someone working only in a temporary food facility, like a booth at an approved community event.

The card rule also doesn’t apply to food handlers employed by some kinds of businesses. If yours is on this list, confirm it with your county before you stop tracking cards:

• Grocery stores, including convenience stores. The store’s own deli, bakery and meat counter count as part of the store. A separately owned food business inside it, like a leased café counter, is still covered.
• Certified farmers’ markets, commissaries and mobile support units.
• Public and private school cafeterias, licensed health care facilities and restricted food service facilities.
• Retail stores where most sales come from a pharmacy, and venues with a snack bar where most sales come from admission tickets, except any area with sit-down restaurant service.
• A food facility that gives all its food staff in-house food safety training approved in another state. The training must be on work time and free to staff, and the facility must be able to prove the approval to the inspector.
• A food facility with a collective bargaining agreement covering its food handlers.
• Jails, juvenile halls and similar facilities, and elderly nutrition programs run by the California Department of Aging.

References: California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113790 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113948 (opens in a new tab) · Sonoma County Environmental Health & Safety: Food Handler Card (opens in a new tab)

Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego run their own programs

The state card rules don’t apply where a local food handler program took effect before January 1, 2009. The pay rules from SB 476, covered next, still apply there. Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties run their own programs, and each one changes what your tracker needs to know. In any other county, ask its environmental health office whether a local program applies.

In these three counties, the card has to come from the county’s own program or a school the county approves. A state card isn’t accepted in San Bernardino or Riverside County. Someone moving from your Los Angeles café to your Riverside one needs a Riverside County certificate. These details are set locally and can change, so check each county’s current page before you rely on them:

• San Bernardino County. Food handlers need a card from San Bernardino County Environmental Health Services only; cards from other counties, programs or companies aren’t accepted. The county’s SB 476 FAQ gives 14 calendar days from the start of work, and lists the training at $22 every three years.
• Riverside County. The county’s food handler bulletin, last revised in March 2022, says employees need a county Food Handler Certificate within seven days of starting work. It says the certificate is valid for two years, must be displayed at the workplace, and photocopies aren’t accepted there.
• San Diego County. County code requires a card from a county-authorized training school, or a county test given by the facility’s certified food safety manager. The county says cards are valid for three years. The county pages we read don’t give a deadline for new hires, so ask the county’s Department of Environmental Health and Quality before you set one in your tracker. If someone takes the county test from your food safety manager instead of a class, record that test in place of a card.

References: California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113948 (opens in a new tab) · San Bernardino County Environmental Health Services: Food Handlers & Managers (opens in a new tab) · San Bernardino County Environmental Health Services: Senate Bill 476 FAQs (02/2024) (opens in a new tab) · Riverside County Department of Environmental Health: Food Handler Certification Program, Bulletin 10-94-DES (rev. 03/2022) (opens in a new tab) · StateFoodSafety: Riverside County Food Handlers Card, approved by the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health (opens in a new tab) · County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health and Quality: Food Program FAQs (opens in a new tab) · County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health and Quality: Food Handler Program (opens in a new tab)

What SB 476 changed, and what to record

SB 476 took effect on January 1, 2024 and moved the cost of the card from the worker to the employer. Its pay rules apply in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties too. The time an employee spends on the course and exam counts as hours worked, and you pay for it. Under Labor Code section 2802, you also pay back the necessary costs of getting the card, like the course fee.

While they take the course and exam, you relieve them of all other work. And you can’t make having a card already a condition of hiring someone.

Separately, an older part of the same section keeps the course cheap. At least one food handler course and exam, card included, has to cost no more than $15. If none is available at that price, the card requirement doesn’t apply. This price cap is part of the state card rules, so it doesn’t cover the three county programs. San Bernardino County lists its training at $22. The California Department of Public Health links to the list of accredited courses.

In practice, each new hire leaves a short paper trail. Keep these with the person’s record:

• The training time on their timesheet, as paid hours, with the date. California’s Labor Code says payroll records showing hours worked are kept for at least three years.
• Who paid the course fee: you directly, or the employee, with the date you paid them back.
• A note that they took the course on paid time with no other duties, not between orders at the counter.
• If they arrived with a card from a past job, its issue and expiry dates. A card stays valid when someone changes employers; you just can’t require one to hire them.

References: California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113948 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: SB 476 (2023), Food safety: food handlers (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Labor Code section 2802 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Labor Code section 1174 (opens in a new tab) · California Department of Public Health: Retail Food Safety Training (rev. 11/2024) (opens in a new tab) · San Bernardino County Environmental Health Services: Senate Bill 476 FAQs (02/2024) (opens in a new tab)

The food manager certificate is a separate record

Most restaurants and cafés also need a certified food safety manager, under section 113947.1. It’s a different credential with different dates, and it belongs in the same tracker. The rule covers any food facility, other than a temporary one, that prepares, handles or serves unpackaged “potentially hazardous” food. That is the code’s term for food that needs time or temperature control to stay safe. Each facility needs at least one owner or employee who has passed an accredited food safety certification exam.

Watch this one when your certified manager gives notice, because losing them starts a clock. The rules that matter for your records:

• At least one certified person per facility. They can’t also be the certified person for another facility, and they don’t need to be there every hour you’re open.
• The certificate is valid for five years from the day the exam was passed. The person recertifies every five years by passing the exam again.
• At least one accredited manager exam must cost no more than $60, certificate included, though the state health department can adjust that price to match its actual costs.
• The certificate stays on file at the facility at all times, ready for the inspector.
• If you open, change ownership or no longer have a certified person, you have 60 days to comply.
• Someone holding a valid manager certificate doesn’t need a food handler card as well.

References: California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113947.1 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113947.3 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113790 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113871 (opens in a new tab)

What to keep on file for an inspection

The state law asks for records documenting that each food handler has a valid card. It doesn’t say what form they take, or how long to keep them after someone leaves. Your county decides how it checks. Sonoma County, for example, says you may be asked for a current work schedule along with a valid copy of each person’s card.

That pairing is the useful test. An inspector can line up who’s on today’s schedule against the cards you hold. A folder of cards with no staff list can’t show who’s missing one. Keep one place, on paper or on screen, that holds:

• A current staff list: name, role, location and hire date.
• A copy of each food handler card, showing the name, provider, issue date and expiry date. Some providers let you check a card online; StateFoodSafety, for example, has a verification page. In Riverside County, the original also goes on display at the workplace.
• Each new food handler’s due date: hire date plus 30 days, or your county’s deadline.
• Your food safety manager certificate, with its expiry date.
• This week’s schedule, so names can be matched to cards.
• Training hours and fee payments for each card, kept with payroll.
• Cards for people who have left. The food code sets no time. We suggest keeping them with your payroll records for at least three years.

References: California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113948 (opens in a new tab) · Sonoma County Environmental Health & Safety: Food Handler Card (opens in a new tab) · Riverside County Department of Environmental Health: Food Handler Certification Program, Bulletin 10-94-DES (rev. 03/2022) (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Labor Code section 1174 (opens in a new tab) · StateFoodSafety: Online Food Handler Verification (opens in a new tab)

How to set up a food handler card tracker

You can start this in a spreadsheet this afternoon. The steps are the same whatever tool you end up using.

For example, a café with 12 staff hires a barista on March 3, 2026. The tracker shows the card due by April 2. The barista takes the course on paid time on March 6, and the card issued that day expires on March 6, 2029. In January 2029, the tracker reminds the manager to book a renewal. Here are the steps:

• List everyone who handles food, at each location. Mark anyone who doesn’t need a card and why, like a valid manager certificate.
• Use one row per person per credential, with these columns: name, location, role, hire date, card due date, provider, card number, issue date, expiry date, a link to the card copy, status (current, due soon, expired or missing), reminder owner and backup owner.
• Give each location its rule: 30 days and three years for most of California, or your county’s own deadline and card length.
• On the day you hire, enter the hire date and the due date. Book the course on paid time in the first week, not on day 29.
• When the card arrives, enter the provider, card number, issue date and the expiry date printed on it. Save a copy, and check the expiry matches your county’s rule: three years after the issue date for a state card, two years for a Riverside County certificate.
• Set reminders: one a week before each new hire’s due date, and two for each renewal, 60 and 30 days before expiry.
• Give every reminder a named owner and a backup, so it still gets done when a manager is off or leaves. A reminder sent to a shared inbox nobody reads won’t help.
• Each week, when you post the schedule, compare it with the tracker. A monthly check is too late for the 7- and 14-day deadlines in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Anyone scheduled with a missing or expired card is the first thing to fix.
• When a card is renewed, add the new card as a new row and mark the old one replaced. Don’t type over the old dates, so the history is there if anyone asks.
• When someone leaves, mark them inactive, but keep their record.

References: California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113948 (opens in a new tab) · Riverside County Department of Environmental Health: Food Handler Certification Program, Bulletin 10-94-DES (rev. 03/2022) (opens in a new tab) · San Bernardino County Environmental Health Services: Senate Bill 476 FAQs (02/2024) (opens in a new tab)

A spreadsheet, an app or your own system

The right tool depends on how many people and locations you track, and how often the schedule changes. A single café with eight staff and low turnover is usually fine with a spreadsheet and calendar reminders. When we checked in October 2026, San Bernardino County offered a free online tool called Compliance Manager. It stores your staff’s food handler cards and shows their status.

It gets harder with turnover, more locations or shifts spread across many days. For example, a taqueria with one location in Los Angeles County and one in Riverside County needs two sets of deadlines and two kinds of cards. A caterer staffing weekend events needs to know a server’s card expired before putting them on the schedule, not after.

If you already pay for a scheduling app, check whether it stores certificates and expiry dates before buying anything new. Our guide to choosing an employee scheduling app covers what else to ask. Whatever you use, test it against these questions:

• Does it handle different rules by location, like 7 days in Riverside County, 14 in San Bernardino County and 30 in most of the state?
• Does it warn you before a deadline, not after it?
• Can it block, or at least flag, scheduling someone whose card is missing or expired?
• Does it hold a copy of each card, not only the dates?
• Does it track the food manager certificate too?
• Can you pull up the staff list and cards for an inspector in under a minute, on a phone?
• Can you export everything to a spreadsheet if you stop using it?

References: San Bernardino County Environmental Health Services: Food Handlers & Managers (opens in a new tab) · San Bernardino County Environmental Health Services: Senate Bill 476 FAQs (02/2024) (opens in a new tab) · Riverside County Department of Environmental Health: Food Handler Certification Program, Bulletin 10-94-DES (rev. 03/2022) (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code section 113948 (opens in a new tab)

Where a custom system fits

If a spreadsheet or your scheduling app already does all this, keep it. If cards and schedules live in places that don’t talk to each other, we build custom business software that keeps them on one staff record. For example: each person’s card dates and a copy of the card, rules by location, reminders to the right manager, and a schedule that flags anyone without a valid card. We connect to QuickBooks Online; if you run payroll in another app, we check it before quoting. The same system can also run catering orders and deposits.

A focused fix, like one card-expiry report or reminder added to software you already have, is typically $750–$3,000 over 1–⁠2 weeks. One business system, like staff records and schedules connected to QuickBooks Online, is $6,000–$18,000 over 6–⁠10 weeks. These are our prices as of 2026-10-04, and what custom software costs explains what moves them. Every launch includes 30 days of fixes.

This isn’t legal advice, and no software replaces checking with your county. Bring your staff list and one week’s schedule to our free first call, and you get a fixed price in writing within 48 hours.