Food handler card tracking, current before the inspector asks.

Food handler cards are set by states and counties, and they do not agree. California requires a card within 30 days of hire, valid for three years (Health and Safety Code 113948). Texas requires an accredited course within 30 days, and the certificate is valid for two years (25 TAC 229.178). Illinois requires training within 30 days, renewed every three years (410 ILCS 625/3.05). Some counties issue their own cards on their own terms, and a few states have no statewide requirement at all. If you operate in more than one jurisdiction, each location can carry a different rule.

A food handler card is not a manager certification. State codes, most of which follow the FDA Food Code, require a certified food protection manager: someone who has passed an accredited exam such as ServSafe Manager or another ANSI-accredited program. California, for example, requires at least one per facility that handles unpackaged food, recertified every five years (Health and Safety Code 113947.1). A kitchen can be fully carded and still be cited because the one manager certificate lapsed, or because the certified manager left and nobody replaced them.

Alcohol server training is a third set of rules, from the state alcohol authority, with its own course, its own card, and its own validity period. CertKeeper keeps the three apart: one type per credential, each with the validity period of the jurisdiction that issued it, so the countdown on a Texas card is two years and the one on a California card is three.

This is not legal advice. The rules above were checked against the sources listed when this page was written; your state, your county, and your contracts may add more.