Does South Carolina Require a Food Handler Card?

South Carolina does not require an individual statewide food handler card.

No universal handler-card mandate for ordinary food employees; but Reg 61-25 §2-102.12(B) requires the person-in-charge on each shift to be a certified food handler OR a certified food protection manager, and §2-102.12(A) requires at least one CFPM per establishment.

What it’s called

South Carolina requires no individual food handler card. Statewide, the food-safety duty falls on the establishment instead — it must have a Certified Food Protection Manager, under SC Reg 61-25 § 2-102.12. “Food handler license,” “food handlers permit,” “food safety certificate” and “food handler card” are common searches, but South Carolina issues no such individual credential. The credential many searchers have in mind — the food-MANAGER certification (a Certified Food Protection Manager, often earned through ServSafe Manager) — is a separate, establishment-level qualification, not an individual handler card.

What South Carolina requires instead

No statewide requirement that all food employees/handlers hold a food handler card. Under SC Regulation 61-25 §2-102.12: (A) at least one supervisory/management employee per establishment must be a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM); (B) at all times during operation the person in charge must be a certified food handler OR a CFPM; (C) minimal-risk establishments designated by the Department are exempt. An ordinary food employee who is not serving as the person-in-charge is not required by state law to hold a food handler card.

Who does NOT need this — exemptions

South Carolina imposes no universal handler-card duty on ordinary food employees, and the person-in-charge certificate duty it does impose has an express carve-out plus a deemed-compliance route.

EXPRESS EXEMPTION — Reg 61-25 Sec. 2-102.12(C): “This section does not apply to certain types of retail food establishments deemed by the Department to pose minimal risk of causing, or contributing to, foodborne illness based on the nature of the operation and the extent of food preparation.” Because the carve-out is written at SECTION level, a Department-designated minimal-risk establishment is exempt from BOTH the certified-food-protection-manager duty in (A) and the certified-food-handler-or-CFPM person-in-charge duty in (B). The regulation delegates the designation to the Department and does not publish the list of minimal-risk operation types in the rule text.

DEEMED COMPLIANCE — Reg 61-25 Sec. 2-102.20(B): “A retail food establishment that has an employee that is certified by a food protection manager certification program that is evaluated and listed by a Conference for Food Protection recognized accrediting agency … is deemed to comply with 2-102.12.” A CFPM therefore satisfies the requirement outright — no one needs a separate entry-level food handler certificate.

OUTSIDE THE REGULATION ENTIRELY:

• Private residences — Reg 61-25 Sec. 1-201.10(B)(91): “A private residence is exempt from compliance with this regulation.”
• Home-based food production operations (cottage food) — S.C. Code Sec. 44-1-143(F): “A home-based food production operation is not a retail food establishment and is not subject to regulation by the department pursuant to Regulation 61.25.” These operate out of the operator’s dwelling selling nonpotentially hazardous foods and must carry the statutory label; Sec. 44-1-143(G) provides the section does not apply to an operation with net earnings of less than $1,500 annually that would otherwise meet the definition.

NOT EXEMPT (the trap on this page): an ordinary food employee needs no handler certificate, but whoever is acting as the PERSON IN CHARGE at any time during operation must be a certified food handler or a CFPM (Sec. 2-102.12(B)). A shift-leading employee cannot rely on the “no statewide handler card” headline.

TIERS SEARCHED: S.C. Code of Laws Title 44 Chapter 1 (Sec. 44-1-140 is rulemaking authority ONLY and grants no food-establishment exemptions — checked directly rather than assumed; Sec. 44-1-143 is the home-based/cottage-food exclusion); Regulation 61-25 (2024 digital edition) read in full (112 pp.) — Chapter 1 definitions and applicability, Sec. 2-102.12, Sec. 2-102.20, and Chapter 8 compliance and enforcement; and the SC Department of Agriculture retail food safety pages. No county or municipal handler-card ordinance was found.

Where to check

Food handler certificates (and CFPM certifications) are issued by accredited private training programs, not by the state. Regulation 61-25 is enforced by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA), which took over retail food safety oversight from SC DHEC (the regulation’s “Department” definition names SCDA “or agents thereof”).