Oregon requires a Food Handler Card (county-issued). Every figure below is verified against the official source and dated.
What it’s called
Oregon requires a Food Handler Card — a training card, not a license. “Food handler license,” “food handlers permit,” “food safety certificate” and “food workers card” are common informal names for the same card. It is not the food-MANAGER credential: a Certified Food Protection Manager (often earned through ServSafe Manager) is a separate, higher certification for one supervisor per establishment. In Oregon the card is issued by the county health authority and required statewide.
ServSafe is a private training program, not a government credential — see is ServSafe required in your state for what it is and how the handler card differs from the manager certification.
Quick facts
- Requirement level: State-mandated — county-issued
- Valid for: 3 years
- Cost: Statutory program fee capped at $10 (ORS 624.570); OHA states the card cost is $10.00. Duplicate certificate: additional fee up to $5. A provider may not charge any fee to a food handler who is exempt under OAR 333-175-0091 (OAR 333-175-0101(2)). The $10 is not a lifetime cap: under OAR 333-175-0101(4) a provider may assess a new program fee each time a participant takes or retakes all or part of the program or assessment.
- Who needs it & when: Any person involved in the preparation or service of food in a restaurant or food service facility — including cooks, wait staff, dishwashers, delivery drivers, and bus persons — must successfully complete an approved food handler training program and earn a certificate within 30 days of the date of hire. Temporary restaurants are excepted (ORS 624.570).
Two groups do not need a food handler card. Under OAR 333-175-0091(2), a person who holds a current certification from an Authority-approved food manager training program, or who is registered as an Environmental Health Specialist or an Environmental Health Specialist Trainee under ORS chapter 700, need not obtain a food handler certificate. The exemption is conditional: OAR 333-175-0091(3) requires that a food manager certification be renewed every five years to be accepted in lieu of a food handler certificate, and OAR 333-175-0111(2) requires the licensee to make that manager certification available to the inspecting authority. CODIFIED FUTURE MANDATE (not yet in force): food manager certification is not required by Oregon law today – OHA’s food manager page says so plainly – but the 2025-26 revision of the food sanitation rules (rule text effective Jan. 1, 2026, moving Oregon toward the 2022 FDA Food Code) adds a phased Certified Food Protection Manager requirement: at least one CFPM per food establishment by January 1, 2029, and by January 1, 2031 at least one person in charge working each day must be a CFPM, present during the hours of operation that represent the highest food safety risk. OHA: “Food Manager Certification will be required in Oregon starting in 2029.”
- Who issues it: Oregon Health Authority, a local (county) public health authority, or an OHA-designated agent (ORS 624.570; OAR ch. 333, div. 175). Cards are administered/issued at the county level under the statewide rule; a card issued in any county is valid throughout Oregon.
Who does NOT need this — exemptions
Two routes out of the card, plus classes of work the statute never reaches.
APPROVED FOOD-MANAGER CERTIFICATE HOLDERS AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SPECIALISTS. OAR 333-175-0091(2): “Any person who has a current certification from an Authority-approved food manager training program or is registered as an Environmental Health Specialist or Environmental Health Specialist Trainee as required in ORS Chapter 700 need not obtain a food handler certificate of program completion.” The substitution is CONDITIONAL: OAR 333-175-0091(3) requires the food manager certification to be renewed every five years to be accepted in lieu of a handler card, and OAR 333-175-0111(2) requires the licensee to make that manager certification available to the inspecting authority.
TEMPORARY RESTAURANTS. ORS 624.570(6): persons involved in the preparation or service of food in an intermittent temporary restaurant, seasonal temporary restaurant or single-event temporary restaurant “are not required to complete a food handler training program” — but the exemption is not total for the operation: the temporary restaurant “shall have at least one person who has completed the food handler training program on the premises at all times.” (Our earlier note that “temporary restaurants are excepted” was only half the rule.)
OPERATIONS OUTSIDE THE LICENSING SCHEME. The duty in ORS 624.570(1)(a) attaches only to persons working in “a restaurant or food service facility licensed under ORS 624.020 or 624.320.” ORS 624.610 places two categories outside ORS 624.010 to 624.121 and 624.310 to 624.430 entirely: (1) food service provided to sleeping room patrons of facilities described in ORS 446.435; and (2) food service provided solely and incidentally to participants in the course of backpacking, hiking, horseback packing, canoeing, rafting or other such expedition as described in ORS 446.435, unless the expedition is part of an organizational camp program.
NOT EXEMPT — holders of another state’s food handler card, and cards from any provider not on OHA’s approved-provider list: Oregon does not recognise them and there is no interstate reciprocity. (Reciprocity runs only INSIDE Oregon: an Oregon food handler certificate “is valid statewide” — OAR 333-175-0091(1).) A related protection: a provider “shall not require a fee of any food handler listed in OAR 333-175-0091” (OAR 333-175-0101(2)) — an exempt person must not be charged for a card they do not need.
Approved training providers
Certificate may be issued ONLY by the Oregon Health Authority, a local public health authority, or an OHA-approved “designated agent” (ORS 624.570). Food handler cards issued in other states are NOT valid in Oregon, and any provider not on OHA’s Approved Provider list is not accepted — generic out-of-state/ANAB third-party cards do not satisfy the Oregon requirement. To receive a certificate of program completion, a food handler must pass the written assessment with a minimum score of 75% (OAR 333-175-0081(1)).
How Oregon compares to nearby states
All four states below mandate an individual food handler card statewide, so their terms line up cleanly. Nearby states with a different mandate level are excluded on purpose — see the note under the table.
| State | Card valid for | What the state sets for cost | Deadline after hire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 3 years | Program fee capped at $10 (ORS 624.570); OHA states the card cost is $10.00 | Within 30 days of the date of hire |
| Washington | 2 years (initial) — see note ¹ | $10 flat statewide fee — “Each applicant for a food worker card must pay a fee in the amount of ten dollars” (WAC 246-217-025) | Within 14 calendar days from the beginning of employment (WAC 246-217-015(1)) |
| California | 3 years | At least one state-approved course and examination must cost no more than $15, including the card (Health & Safety Code §113948); other providers may charge more | Within 30 days of the date of hire (for handlers hired on or after June 1, 2011) |
| Utah | 3 years | No more than $15, uniform statewide (Utah Admin. Code R392-103-4); Utah DHHS confirms the fee is $15.00 | Certificate within 14 days and the permit within 30 days after employment as a food handler begins |
¹ Washington’s term is not a single number: 2 years initially, 3 years on renewal, and up to 5 years if the applicant documents “additional food safety training” within the prior 2 years (WAC 246-217-035).
Across these four, the state-set figures are $10 in Oregon (a program-fee cap) and Washington (a flat mandatory fee), $15 uniform statewide in Utah, and in California a guarantee that at least one state-approved course costs no more than $15 — other California providers may charge more. The deadline to hold the card is 14 days in Washington and 30 days in Oregon and California; Utah requires the training certificate within 14 days and the food handler permit within 30.
Excluded because the mandate level differs, not because the terms are worse: Nevada is county-mandated — Clark County/Las Vegas requires an employee card, but there is no statewide handler-card law; Arizona is also county-mandated, with no statewide handler-card law (ARS 11-269.12 sets standards only, and only “if a county requires” one); and Idaho mandates no individual card at all — only an establishment-level Certified Food Protection Manager. Comparing their county terms against Oregon’s statewide rule as if they were equivalent would be wrong.
Details and official sources for each state are on its linked page.
What it costs, all-in
- The card: the statutory program fee is capped at $10 (ORS 624.570), and the Oregon Health Authority states the card cost is $10.00.
- A duplicate certificate: an additional fee of up to $5.
- If exempt, nothing: a provider may not charge any fee to a food handler who is exempt under OAR 333-175-0091 (OAR 333-175-0101(2)) — an exempt person must not be charged for a card they do not need.
- The $10 is not a lifetime cap. Under OAR 333-175-0101(4), a provider may assess a new program fee each time a participant takes or retakes all or part of the program or the assessment. A failed assessment can therefore mean paying the program fee again.
Common questions
Does a food handler card from another state work in Oregon? No. Food handler cards issued in other states are not valid in Oregon, and any provider not on OHA’s Approved Provider list is not accepted — generic out-of-state or ANAB third-party cards do not satisfy the Oregon requirement. Reciprocity runs only inside Oregon: an Oregon food handler certificate “is valid statewide” (OAR 333-175-0091(1)), so a card issued by any county works everywhere in the state.
What score does the assessment require? To receive a certificate of program completion, a food handler must pass the written assessment with a minimum score of 75% (OAR 333-175-0081(1)).
Are temporary-restaurant workers really exempt? Only the workers are. ORS 624.570(6) says persons involved in the preparation or service of food in an intermittent, seasonal or single-event temporary restaurant “are not required to complete a food handler training program” — but the same provision requires the temporary restaurant to “have at least one person who has completed the food handler training program on the premises at all times.” The exemption is individual, not operational.
Will Oregon require a food manager certification? Not today — OHA’s food manager page states that food manager certification is not required by Oregon law. A phased requirement is already codified: the 2025-26 revision of the food sanitation rules (rule text effective Jan. 1, 2026) adds a Certified Food Protection Manager requirement of at least one CFPM per food establishment by January 1, 2029, and by January 1, 2031 at least one person in charge working each day must be a CFPM, present during the hours of operation that represent the highest food safety risk. OHA: “Food Manager Certification will be required in Oregon starting in 2029.” Separately, a current Authority-approved food manager certification already substitutes for the handler card under OAR 333-175-0091(2), provided it is renewed every five years (OAR 333-175-0091(3)) and made available to the inspecting authority (OAR 333-175-0111(2)).
Licensing rules change. We monitor official sources across the site and publish every change we act on — see recent changes and our corrections log .