Wisconsin requires a Certified Food Protection Manager (Wisconsin has required a certified manager per restaurant since January 1, 1995, by statute, and the rule layer now states the duty in Food Code language). Every figure below is verified against the official source and dated.

The rule

Wisconsin has required a certified manager per restaurant since January 1, 1995, by statute, and the rule layer now states the duty in Food Code language.

Wis. Stat. s. 97.33(1r), verbatim: “After January 1, 1995, no person may conduct, maintain, manage or operate a restaurant unless the operator or manager of the restaurant is a certificate holder.”

Wis. Stat. s. 97.33(1m), verbatim: “No person may conduct, maintain, manage, or operate a school lunchroom that is in a school that is participating in the national school lunch program under 42 USC 1751 to 1769j for which food service is directly provided by the school unless the operator or manager of the lunchroom, or his or her designee, is a certificate holder. … A private school, charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r), or school district complies with the requirements of this subsection if the school or school district has one certificate holder.”

Wisconsin Food Code (ch. ATCP 75 Appendix) 2-102.12(A), verbatim: “At least one FOOD ESTABLISHMENT EMPLOYEE that has supervisory and management responsibility and the authority to direct and control FOOD preparation and service shall be a certified FOOD protection manager who has shown proficiency of required information through passing a test that is part of an ACCREDITED PROGRAM as specified in chapter 12 of this Code.”

Wisconsin Food Code 12-201.11(A)(1), verbatim: “An individual who operates a retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT or at least one MANAGER of a retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT, shall have a certificate that states that the individual or MANAGER has passed an exam from an ACCREDITED PROGRAM on FOOD protection practices as required in s. 97.33, Stats. And 2-102.12.”

DATCP restates it in its own words on the Food Manager Requirements page (as of 2026-09-05): “Most licensed food establishments must have at least one manager or operator certified in food protection practices. Certification is required for most food establishments, but not all.”

A difference in scope: the statutory duty at s. 97.33(1r) runs to a “restaurant” as defined in s. 97.01(14g); the rule duty at 2-102.12 and ch. 12 runs to a “retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT” with its own three-part carve-out at 12-101.11; and DATCP’s page says “Only DATCP establishments that engage in retail food activities are required to have a certified food protection manager.” These are three differently-drawn perimeters, and they are stated separately rather than merged (see the establishment-scope details on this page and exemptions).

What it’s called

“Certified food manager,” “CFM,” “certified food protection manager,” “CFPM,” “food manager certification,” “food manager license,” “food safety manager certification” and “ServSafe Manager” are all informal names for the Wisconsin certificate of food protection practices. Milwaukee’s ordinance records the folk name explicitly: MCO 68-1-5 defines certificate holder as a person holding “a valid, current certificate of food protection practices, commonly referred to as a certified food managers license.” It is not literally a license. ServSafe is one of thirteen ANAB-CFP accredited programs DATCP lists in its Food Safety Course Directory, not the name of the credential. It is not a food handler card: Wisconsin issues no individual food handler card at all, and s. 97.33(1g)(c) uses “food handler” for the opposite thing – an individual at a restaurant who is not a certificate holder.

How this relates to the food handler card

There is no substitution question in Wisconsin, because only one of the two credentials exists.

Wisconsin has no statewide individual food handler card. The only food-safety personnel credential in Wis. Stat. ch. 97 is the certificate of food protection practices at s. 97.33, and it is an establishment-level duty carried by one person, not a per-employee card.

The statute is unusually explicit about this, and in the reverse direction from what searchers expect. Wis. Stat. s. 97.33(1g)(c) defines “Food handler” as “an individual engaged in the preparation or processing of food at a restaurant and who is not a certificate holder.” A “food handler” in Wisconsin law is therefore, by definition, a person without the credential. The term appears in s. 97.33 only as a HEADCOUNT METRIC that decides how the certificate holder may renew: more than 5 food handlers means renewal by approved examination, 5 or fewer opens the small-operator course route (s. 97.33(3)(a) and (b)).

So: the manager certificate cannot substitute for a Wisconsin food handler card, because no such card exists to be substituted for; and a commercially sold “Wisconsin food handler card” (a voluntary private product) does not satisfy the s. 97.33 manager duty, which requires a certificate earned by passing an exam from an ANAB-CFP accredited program (ATCP 75 Appendix 12-201.11(A)(1), 12-301.11).

The Wisconsin food handler page also discusses the s. 97.33 duty, the 5-year term, the s. 97.01(14g) restaurant exclusions and the ATCP 75 minimal-risk exemption; this page is the full treatment of them.

The employee-level question — whether Wisconsin requires a food handler card — is answered on the Wisconsin food handler card page .

Quick facts

  • Requirement level: State-mandated — Wisconsin has required a certified manager per restaurant since January 1, 1995, by statute, and the rule layer now states the duty in Food Code language
  • Duty shape: At least one certified manager per establishment
  • Who must hold it: One person per establishment, and that person must be at the operator/manager level.

Statute: “the operator or manager of the restaurant” must be a certificate holder (s. 97.33(1r)). Rule: “An individual who operates a retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT or at least one MANAGER of a retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT” (12-201.11(A)(1)); “At least one FOOD ESTABLISHMENT EMPLOYEE that has supervisory and management responsibility and the authority to direct and control FOOD preparation and service” (2-102.12(A)). The Food Code defines “Manager” for this purpose as “an individual who has direct authority over or exercises control or supervision over the EMPLOYEES and operations of a retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT” (12-101.12(C)).

Read the operator/manager/designee distinction precisely – it is the single easiest error on this page. s. 97.33(1m), the school lunchroom subsection, allows “the operator or manager of the lunchroom, OR HIS OR HER DESIGNEE” to be the certificate holder. s. 97.33(1r), the restaurant subsection, contains no designee clause at all. A page that writes “the operator, manager or designee” for restaurants has imported the school-lunchroom wording into the general rule.

Timing: DATCP’s Food Manager Requirements page (live 2026-09-05) states, verbatim: “The operator or manager of an establishment that is new or undergoing a change-of-operator must have a food manager with the appropriate credential within the first 90 days after opening.”

Employees below manager level need nothing. Wisconsin imposes no credential on rank-and-file food employees (see the handler-card relationship).

  • Presence rule: None at the state level – and the absence is the fact.

Neither s. 97.33 nor the Wisconsin Food Code requires the certified manager to be on the premises at any particular time, on every shift, or during hours of operation. s. 97.33(1r) requires only that the operator or manager BE a certificate holder; 2-102.12(A) requires only that at least one supervisory employee BE a certified food protection manager. In the full text of s. 97.33 and of Wisconsin Food Code ch. 12 and 2-102 (as of 2026-09-05), no presence, on-duty or per-shift clause appears in either. Neither source says that Wisconsin requires a certified manager on duty at all times.

A separate, non-certificate duty does sit on the person in charge at all times: Wisconsin Food Code 2-102.11 requires the person in charge to demonstrate knowledge to the inspector by answering to seventeen enumerated points, and 2-103.11(A) provides that a person in charge “who demonstrates knowledge by being a FOOD protection manager 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 2-102.11(B).” Certification is one way to satisfy that demonstration duty; it is not a presence requirement, and the demonstration duty is not the certification duty.

One local exception found: City of Milwaukee MCO 68-35 (Shared Kitchens) requires a shared kitchen user to “Ensure a certified food manager is on site at all times that potentially hazardous food is being prepared, tasted, handled, packaged, prepared for storage, served or otherwise used, and make available, upon request, a food manager certificate.” That is a presence rule, it applies only to shared-kitchen users in the City of Milwaukee, and it has no statewide counterpart.

  • Minimum certified people: One. s. 97.33(1r) requires that “the operator or manager of the restaurant is a certificate holder” (singular); Wisconsin Food Code 2-102.12(A) requires “At least one FOOD ESTABLISHMENT EMPLOYEE”; 12-201.11(A)(1) requires “at least one MANAGER of a retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT.” DATCP: “at least one manager or operator certified in food protection practices.” For a school district under s. 97.33(1m) the minimum is one for the whole district: “A private school, charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r), or school district complies with the requirements of this subsection if the school or school district has one certificate holder.”
  • Certificate issued by: Contested on the face of the official sources – state both, attribute each, resolve neither.

The accredited program issues the operative document, on the current rule and the current agency page. Wisconsin Food Code 12-201.11(A)(1) requires the manager to “have a certificate that states that the individual or MANAGER has passed an exam from an ACCREDITED PROGRAM,” and 12-201.11(B) requires the establishment to post “a certificate issued under 12-201.11(A).” DATCP’s live page tells operators to post “the exam certificate, taken within the past 5 years,” publishes no application form for individuals, and routes the reader to the ANAB-CFP accredited-program directory. DATCP’s Food Safety Course Directory lists thirteen ANAB-CFP accredited programs by code: 1AAAFH (1 AAA Food Handler), APS (APS Culinary Dynamics/World Food Safety Organization), ASH (Certus/State Food Safety), T360 (Learn2Serve), MFSL (My Food Service License), NRFSP (National Registry of Food Safety Professionals), NRAS (ServSafe), TST (Relish Works/Trust20), SWC (Responsible Training/Safeway Certifications), SFG (The Always Food Safe Company), EDUC (DSBWorldwide/EduClasses FMC), USERVE (UServe), FSP (FoodSafePal). Programs are named because DATCP names them.

The department is described as the issuer by the statute and by at least one local ordinance. Wis. Stat. s. 97.33(2): “Except as provided in s. 93.135, the department may issue a certificate of food protection practices to an individual who satisfactorily completes an approved examination or who has achieved comparable compliance.” s. 97.33(1g)(b) defines a certificate holder as one holding “a valid certificate of food protection practices issued under this section,” and s. 97.33(6)(c) directs DATCP to promulgate rules “Establishing procedures for issuance … including application submittal and review.” Milwaukee MCO 68-1-5 states the certificate is “issued by the Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection under s. 97.33, Wis. Stats.” DATCP’s own CFMRequirements fact sheet (rev. 04/2025) says “All individuals applying to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) for the first time must pass an accredited examination.”

What is not settled (as of September 5, 2026): no DATCP application form, fee, certificate number, registry or issuance procedure for individuals was found on any DATCP page read here. The statutory issuance power is permissive (“may issue”). See the credential model and the “What the sources do not say” section; this is the largest open question on this page.

  • Regulator: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), Division of Food and Recreational Safety – Retail Food program. Contact published on the Food Manager Requirements page: [email protected] , 2811 Agriculture Dr., P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI 53708-8911, (608) 224-5012; recertification-course approval requests go to the same division at (608) 224-4700 (Wisconsin Food Code 12-402.11 Note). Enforcement is frequently local without changing the regulator of the credential: under Wis. Stat. s. 97.41(1m) DATCP may designate a local health department as its agent to license and inspect retail food establishments, and “When the designation is made, no license other than the license issued by the local health department under this section may be required.” Agents enforce the state code; DATCP still owns the certificate.
  • Valid for: 5 years
  • Renewal: Every 5 years. Wis. Stat. s. 97.33(3): “Each certificate is valid for 5 years from the date of issuance.” Wisconsin Food Code 12-201.12: “A FOOD protection MANAGER certificate shall expire 5 years after the date of issue.” The small-operator credential runs on the same clock: 12-401.11(B), “Each credential is valid for 5 years from the date of issuance,” and s. 97.33(3g)(a)3., “A licensure of food safety training for small operators may be renewed under sub. (3)(b)1. every 5 years.”
  • State fee: Wisconsin publishes no fee for this credential, and the only application form DATCP publishes is for course providers, not for managers.

What the sources actually show: (a) ch. ATCP 75 contains exactly one fee section, ATCP 75.08 “Retail food establishment fees,” which is about establishment licenses; no manager fee appears anywhere in the chapter or in the Wisconsin Food Code Appendix ch. 12 (full text as of 2026-09-05). (b) DATCP’s Food Manager Requirements page names no price, no fee and no payment step. (c) The one form linked from that page is the “Application for Food Safety Training for Small Operators Recertification Course” – a curriculum-approval application filed by a training provider under 12-402.11(E), not a manager’s application.

But the statute does contemplate a fee, and the tension is stated here rather than resolved: Wis. Stat. s. 97.33(6)(a) directs that DATCP “shall promulgate rules concerning … Establishing a fee for certification and recertification of food protection practices, except that a certification fee may not be imposed on an individual who is eligible for the veterans fee waiver program under s. 45.44.” No implementing fee was located (as of September 5, 2026) (see “What the sources do not say” below). No dollar figure is given here.

The money a Wisconsin manager actually spends is the accredited program’s own price for the course and exam. DATCP publishes no provider prices in its Food Safety Course Directory – unlike several other states’ agency lists – so this page gives no course price.

Training and exam

Passing an exam from an ANAB-CFP accredited food protection manager certification program is the whole of Wisconsin’s initial requirement. There is no state-set minimum course length, no state-written exam and no state-published passing score for initial certification.

Statute: s. 97.33(2) – the certificate goes to an individual “who satisfactorily completes an approved examination or who has achieved comparable compliance”; s. 97.33(1g)(a) – “Approved examination” means one “that allows an individual to demonstrate basic knowledge of food protection practices and that is approved by the department as meeting the standards established under sub. (6)(b).” Rule: 12-301.11 requires the exam to be CFP-accredited (see the accreditation details on this page).

Proctoring: not imposed by statute or rule, but stated by the agency. DATCP Food Safety Course Directory: “All exams are required to be proctored. For online courses, discuss exam arrangements and technology requirements with the course provider.”

No state training mandate. Nothing in s. 97.33 or Wisconsin Food Code ch. 12 requires a course, or any number of instruction hours, before the initial exam. The only instruction-hour figure anywhere in this credential is 12-402.11(B)’s “at least 3 hours of instruction time” for a small-operator recertification course, which is an alternative to re-examination at renewal and is open only to managers of restaurants with 5 or fewer food handlers. That is why this page lists no training requirement: every route to and through this credential can be completed by examination.

No passing SCORE, retake rule or exam validity window is published by Wisconsin at any level – those are the accredited program’s terms. The 5-year clock runs from the certificate’s date of issue, not from the exam sitting (12-201.12), though DATCP phrases the posting duty as “the exam certificate, taken within the past 5 years.”

Approved courses and the approval standard

Two separate approval regimes, one for the exam and one for the small-operator course.

Exam – third-party accreditation, not a Wisconsin list. Wisconsin Food Code 12-301.11: “The examination shall be evaluated and listed by a Conference for Food Protection recognized accrediting agency as conforming to the Conference for Food Protection Standards for Accreditation of Food Protection Manager Certification Programs.” DATCP does not publish its own exam approvals; it points at the directory: “See a listing of food manager certification exams accepted in Wisconsin by visiting the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) website” (link resolves to the ANAB accredited-program directory at anabpd.ansi.org). The statutory hook is s. 97.33(1g)(a) and (6)(b), which make an “approved examination” one “approved by the department as meeting the standards established under sub. (6)(b).”

Small-operator recertification course – approved by DATCP, course by course. Wisconsin Food Code 12-402.11: “(A) Training courses in FOOD protection practices to prepare FOOD MANAGERS for recertification are subject to APPROVAL by the DEPARTMENT … (B) A course shall consist of at least 3 hours of instruction time and include an examination on the information presented,” over nine enumerated subjects, with “(E) A request for APPROVAL … submitted to the DEPARTMENT in writing along with the proposed curriculum” and departmental power to cancel an approval. s. 97.33(3g)(b) additionally directs that “The department shall approve recertification training courses that were approved by the department as of December 31, 2014, and substantially similar courses.”

DATCP’s currently published small-operator approvals (Food Manager Requirements page, as of 2026-09-05): Food Service Safe (recertification course); M&M Business Solutions, Food Manager’s Training HQ; Moraine Park Technical College, “Food Manager Refresher Course”; TAP Series (recertification course); State Food Safety, Online Wisconsin Food Safety Training for Small Operators Recertification; Wisconsin Restaurant Association, Food Safety Training for Small Operators; 1 AAA Food Handler, online refresher courses for small operators. DATCP’s CFMRequirements fact sheet (rev. 04/2025) lists the same set PLUS Tavern League of Wisconsin, recertification course – the two official lists differ by that one entry, both as of 2026-09-05.

Conference for Food Protection (CFP) Standards for Accreditation of Food Protection Manager Certification Programs, as evaluated and listed by a CFP-recognized accrediting agency – in practice ANAB, which DATCP links to through ANSI. Wisconsin Food Code 12-301.11 sets the standard verbatim; 2-103.11(A) uses the same formulation for the person-in-charge knowledge deeming provision. DATCP’s Food Safety Course Directory heads its provider list “ANAB-CFP Accredited Certified Food Protection Manager Programs” and adds two operational notes: “For a current approved courses, visit: ANAB-CFP Accredited Programs online” and “All exams are required to be proctored. For online courses, discuss exam arrangements and technology requirements with the course provider.” Wisconsin therefore does require third-party accreditation for the exam – which distinguishes it from states that benchmark to a named course – while the small-operator recertification course is approved by DATCP directly and carries no accreditation requirement (12-402.11).

Fees

  • Regulatory fee: None published. No state or local application, registration or filing fee for the manager credential was found in Wis. Stat. s. 97.33, in ch. ATCP 75 (whose only fee section, ATCP 75.08, covers retail food establishment licenses), in the Wisconsin Food Code Appendix ch. 12, or on DATCP’s Food Manager Requirements page. Caveat, stated rather than resolved: s. 97.33(6)(a) directs DATCP to promulgate a fee rule for certification and recertification, so a fee may exist in a rule chapter we could not reach as of September 5, 2026 (we did not read ATCP 74; docs.legis.wisconsin.gov was unreachable). Absence here means absence from the sources listed, not proof of non-existence.
  • Government certificate fee: None published. No price for a government-issued certificate appears in statute, rule or on DATCP’s pages. Whether Wisconsin issues a government certificate at all is itself unresolved (see the certificate issuer): the statute says the department “may issue” one, while the operative rule and the agency page describe posting the accredited program’s exam certificate. No certificate, card or number was offered for purchase or application on any DATCP page as of 2026-09-05.
  • Examination fee: Not set by Wisconsin. The exam is the accredited program’s own, priced by the program. DATCP publishes no exam price anywhere – its Food Safety Course Directory lists thirteen ANAB-CFP programs with contact details, course and exam formats and language availability, and no prices at all. The veterans provision at s. 97.33(6)(a) bars a DATCP CERTIFICATION fee for eligible veterans; it does not reach an accredited program’s exam price.
  • Course price: None published by the state. DATCP names approved small-operator courses and accredited programs but prints no price for any of them (Food Manager Requirements page and Food Safety Course Directory, both as of 2026-09-05). Any figure a reader sees is a private provider’s own price, is not a Wisconsin fee, and changes without a rulemaking. This page asserts no course price.

Renewal

How you renew depends on how many food handlers your restaurant employs – Wisconsin’s most distinctive feature among the states covered here.

More than 5 food handlers: re-examination, every time. s. 97.33(3)(a) – “If he or she operates or manages a restaurant employing more than 5 food handlers, an approved examination.” DATCP: “With the exception of small operators, all food managers are required to take and pass an approved exam every 5 years.”

5 or fewer food handlers: a DATCP-approved recertification course is available instead. s. 97.33(3)(b) – “A recertification training course approved by the department” or “An approved examination.” The course must run at least 3 hours and include an examination on the material (12-402.11(B)).

The small-operator route produces a different, restricted credential – do not describe it as the same certificate renewed. s. 97.33(3g)(a): the certificate “is called a ’licensure of food safety training for small operators’” and “applies only in a restaurant the certificate holder is operating or managing at the time of the renewal or in other restaurants employing 5 or fewer food handlers.” DATCP’s CFMRequirements fact sheet (rev. 04/2025) puts the consequence plainly: “If you decide to obtain the food safety training for small operators credential, you are restricted to restaurants with five or fewer food handlers. If you want to hold a certificate for a restaurant with more than five food handlers, you must take an accredited examination.” The same sheet closes the entry door: “All individuals applying to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) for the first time must pass an accredited examination.” And it makes the credential portable within that class: “As long as you go to work for another small operator, you take your credential with you.”

The 90-day lapse rule closes the course route: “Any food manager whose credential is not renewed within 90 days after the expiration date is required take and pass an approved exam” (DATCP, and Wisconsin Food Code 12-201.12 and 12-401.11(C) to the same effect).

s. 97.33(3g)(c) forbids DATCP from treating the two certificate types differently in the field: “The department may not adopt different regulatory and inspection standards based on the type of certificate issued under this section.”

Who counts as a food handler for the threshold, per DATCP’s fact sheet: “Anyone who handles or assembles food for the patrons (e.g., chefs, line cooks). A server who assembles salads, scoops ice cream, or cuts desserts also would be considered a food handler. A bartender slicing limes and lemons is not a food handler.”

No continuing-education hours are required beyond the above, and no state renewal filing was found.

Grace periods and coverage

Replacing a certified manager. Two different 90-day windows exist in Wisconsin, they do different work, and they are easily confused.

  1. New or changed operator – 90 days from opening. DATCP, Food Manager Requirements (as of 2026-09-05), verbatim: “The operator or manager of an establishment that is new or undergoing a change-of-operator must have a food manager with the appropriate credential within the first 90 days after opening.”

  2. Lapsed certificate – 90 days after expiration. Wisconsin Food Code 12-201.12: “An individual whose certification has expired more than 90 days shall be required to take and pass an APPROVED examination as specified in 12-301.11 to be certified.” And 12-401.11(C): “Individuals who do not renew their credential within 90 days after the expiration date, shall be required to be certified by passing an APPROVED examination as specified in 12-201.11.” This window does not excuse anyone from holding the credential; it only decides whether the small-operator course route stays open at renewal.

No published grace period was found for an establishment whose certified manager leaves mid-license. That situation is not addressed in s. 97.33, in Wisconsin Food Code ch. 12 or 2-102.12, or on DATCP’s page (all as of 2026-09-05). The new-operator 90 days are not stated to apply to it.

Several establishments. Addressed for schools, unaddressed for restaurants, and restricted for small operators.

Schools – expressly one per district. s. 97.33(1m): “A private school, charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r), or school district complies with the requirements of this subsection if the school or school district has one certificate holder.” Wisconsin Food Code 12-201.11(A)(2) repeats it.

Restaurants – not addressed. s. 97.33(1r) is written per restaurant (“the operator or manager of the restaurant”), and 2-102.12(A) per food establishment, but neither the statute, the Food Code nor DATCP says whether one certificate holder may satisfy the duty at several locations. An operator with multiple sites should ask DATCP or the agent health department rather than reason from the singular.

Small operators – portable but capped. s. 97.33(3g)(a)2. limits the small-operator credential to “a restaurant the certificate holder is operating or managing at the time of the renewal or … other restaurants employing 5 or fewer food handlers,” and DATCP’s fact sheet adds “As long as you go to work for another small operator, you take your credential with you.” The credential travels with the individual; it does not stretch to a larger restaurant.

New establishments. January 1, 1995 – long spent. Wis. Stat. s. 97.33(1r) reads “After January 1, 1995, no person may conduct, maintain, manage or operate a restaurant unless the operator or manager of the restaurant is a certificate holder.” That is the date the duty began, not a deadline that lies ahead, and it must never be rendered as one. A second historical date sits in s. 97.33(3g)(b): DATCP “shall approve recertification training courses that were approved by the department as of December 31, 2014, and substantially similar courses” – a grandfather clause for pre-2015 course approvals, also historical.

Who does NOT need this — exemptions

Wisconsin’s exemptions sit in three different documents and are not the same list. All three are stated.

  1. Rule – Wisconsin Food Code 12-101.11 (Statement of Application): “The provisions of this chapter do not apply to: (A) A Retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT serving meals with prePACKAGED FOODS as defined in s. ATCP 75.103(4m), (B) A Retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT not serving meals as defined in s. 97.30, Stats., that sells only PACKAGED FOODS or fresh fruits and vegetables, and (C) A Retail food establishment booth or mobile unit when participating in a temporary food event.”

  2. Rule – Wisconsin Food Code 2-102.12(B): the certified-food-protection-manager requirement “does not apply to certain types of 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 extent of FOOD preparation.” This is a delegation to DATCP, not a self-executing list.

  3. AGENCY – DATCP Food Manager Requirements (live 2026-09-05): “The new food code allows for an exemption in the following situations: prepackaged retail food establishments (meal and non-meal), when handling only fresh fruits or produce; transient events; and micro markets. Operators of Transient Retail Food Establishments are exempt from this requirement.” Note DATCP names MICRO MARKETS, which do not appear in 12-101.11’s own three paragraphs.

  4. Statutory scope limit (an exclusion from the duty, not an exemption from the credential): s. 97.33(1r) reaches only a “restaurant,” and s. 97.01(14g) provides that “‘Restaurant’ does not include”: (a) taverns serving free lunches of popcorn, cheese, crackers, pretzels, cold sausage, cured fish or bread and butter; (b) “Churches, religious, fraternal, youths’ or patriotic organizations, service clubs and civic organizations which occasionally prepare, serve or sell meals”; (c) any public or private school lunchroom for which food service is directly provided by the school, or a private individual selling foods from a movable or temporary stand at public farm sales; (d) a bed and breakfast serving breakfasts only to its lodgers; (e) service through a licensed vending machine; (f) a college campus, s. 36.51(1)(b) institution or technical college serving meals only to enrolled students or authorized elderly persons; (g) “A concession stand at a locally sponsored sporting event, such as a little league game”; (h) “A potluck event”; (i) service through a licensed micro market.

The TRAP that runs the other way: a school lunchroom is excluded from “restaurant” by s. 97.01(14g)(c), but s. 97.33(1m) puts it straight back in whenever the school participates in the National School Lunch Program and directly provides the food service. A page that reports only the exclusion would tell an NSLP school it needs nothing.

Waivers of cost or coursework, not of the requirement: s. 97.33(6)(a) bars a certification fee on an individual eligible for the veterans fee waiver program under s. 45.44; s. 97.33(3m) requires DATCP to accept substantially equivalent education, training, instruction or experience obtained in connection with military service toward the certificate. Neither excuses anyone from holding it.

Local rules

No Wisconsin county issues or requires its own food manager credential. What counties and cities have instead is agent status: under Wis. Stat. s. 97.41(1m) DATCP may designate a local health department (jurisdiction over 5,000 population) as its agent to license and inspect retail food establishments, and when it does, “no license other than the license issued by the local health department under this section may be required.” Agents are held to DATCP standards, are annually evaluated, and can lose the status (s. 97.41(2)); DATCP “shall provide education and training to agents … to ensure uniformity in the enforcement of this chapter” (s. 97.41(3)).

The credential itself does not vary with the agent. Agent local health departments set their own establishment license fees (s. 97.41(4)(a)), which is a different thing from a manager fee.

The one power that could produce a local difference is s. 97.41(7): “A local board of health may adopt and impose regulations on licensees and premises for which the local health department is the designated agent under this section, which are stricter than this chapter or rules promulgated by the department. No such regulation may conflict with this chapter or rules promulgated by the department.” One such stricter local rule was found and it is a city, not a county – see the local rules section.

What was checked: the agent-status statute, and the City of Milwaukee (Wisconsin’s largest agent jurisdiction) at ordinance level. No county-level food manager ordinance was searched county by county; that is a follow-up pass, and it is why this field says none found rather than none exists.

Milwaukee adds a real, narrow rule the state does not have – and it is the only local difference found.

The City of Milwaukee is an agent health department. City of Milwaukee Code of Ordinances ch. 68 (Food License Regulations) adopts the Wisconsin Food Code, and the Milwaukee Health Department’s business food-safety page states: “The City of Milwaukee adopts under the City of Milwaukee Code of Ordinances Chapter 68 (Food License Regulations) the Wisconsin Food Code … which is based on the 2013 FDA Model Food Code.”

Milwaukee does not create a separate city manager credential. Its Food Manager Certification page (milwaukee.gov/cfpm, live 2026-09-05) contains no city requirement at all – it links out to DATCP’s Food Manager Certification website, to Wisconsin Food Code ch. 12, and to the ANSI/ANAB accredited-program directory. MCO 68-1-5 defines the credential by reference to the state one: “CERTIFICATE HOLDER means a person who holds a valid, current certificate of food protection practices, commonly referred to as a certified food managers license, issued by the Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection under s. 97.33, Wis. Stats.”

What is genuinely stricter: MCO 68-35 (Shared Kitchens) requires a shared kitchen user to “Ensure a certified food manager is on site at all times that potentially hazardous food is being prepared, tasted, handled, packaged, prepared for storage, served or otherwise used, and make available, upon request, a food manager certificate.” The state imposes no on-site presence rule of any kind (see the presence rule). Milwaukee also attaches a penalty head for certified food managers at MCO 68-45-4 (Class I penalty under s. 61-15).

MHD also restates the general duty in broader words than DATCP’s on its Food Safety for Businesses page: “Each person who is licensed to operate a food service operation shall employ, or shall personally be a person who holds a valid, current certificate of food protection practices.”

Two things not claimed. (1) MCO 68-45-4 makes a violation of “s. 68-23-3-c” the certified-food-manager offence, but in the ordinance text as of 2026-09-05, s. 68-23-3-c is a temporary-change-of-plan paragraph; the cross-reference appears stale and no substantive CFM duty was located at 68-23. That is reported as an observation, not as a finding about what Milwaukee requires. (2) No other Wisconsin municipality’s ordinances were read for this page (September 5, 2026).

Posting and proof

YES – and this is one of Wisconsin’s few affirmative manager duties beyond holding the credential. The certificate must be posted at the establishment.

Wisconsin Food Code 12-201.11(B): “A retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT shall post a certificate issued under 12-201.11(A) in a conspicuous place on the PREMISES of the retail FOOD ESTABLISHMENT.” The small-operator credential carries the same duty, cumulatively: 12-401.11(D) requires the establishment to post the small-operator certificate “in addition, to the initial certification required under 12-201.11, in a conspicuous place on the PREMISES.”

DATCP states it operationally (live 2026-09-05): “To meet regulatory requirements, required personnel must post the exam certificate, taken within the past 5 years, in public view and available for review by inspection staff. Small operators must post the course completion certificate.” Its Food Safety Course Directory repeats: “Post a copy of your course and exam completion certificate at your business.”

In Milwaukee, a shared kitchen user must additionally “make available, upon request, a food manager certificate” and post a copy of the city-issued license on site whenever using the shared kitchen (MCO 68-35).

Registration with the state

None found in operation – but the statute contemplates one, and this page says so.

What is published: no state or local registration, ID card, number or filing is required on top of the accredited program’s certificate. DATCP’s page describes only obtaining the credential and posting the certificate; it offers no individual application, no fee and no registry. Milwaukee adds no city registration either – its Food Manager Certification page contains nothing but links to DATCP, the Food Code and the ANAB directory.

What the statute says: Wis. Stat. s. 97.33(2) empowers DATCP to “issue a certificate of food protection practices,” s. 97.33(1g)(b) speaks of a certificate “issued under this section,” and s. 97.33(6)(c) directs DATCP to promulgate rules “Establishing procedures for issuance … including application submittal and review.” Milwaukee MCO 68-1-5 describes the certificate as “issued by” DATCP, and DATCP’s own small-operator fact sheet refers to “individuals applying to” DATCP. Whether that issuance layer is still operated, and at what price, was not resolved for this page (September 5, 2026) (see “What the sources do not say” below). the credential model is set to provider-certificate-only because that is what the current rule and the current agency page describe.

Food code edition

An amended 2013 FDA Food Code, adopted as Wisconsin’s own code. Wis. Admin. Code s. ATCP 75.03, verbatim: “As permitted by s. 227.14(1s), Stats., an amended version of the 2013 U.S. food and drug administration (FDA) model food code, adopted as ch. ATCP 75 Appendix, is adopted and retitled the Wisconsin food code and is in the format of the FDA-recommended food code to ensure uniformity.”

So the Wisconsin Food Code is not an adoption by reference of an FDA edition – it is a Wisconsin document based on the 2013 edition, published as the Appendix to ch. ATCP 75 and currently stamped Register November 2024 No. 827. Milwaukee’s health department describes it the same way: the Wisconsin Food Code “is based on the 2013 FDA Model Food Code,” and adds that “The FDA Model Food Code contains helpful Annexes that are not in the Wisconsin Food Code such as ‘Public Health Reasons.’”

The consequence for this cluster is visible in the manager provisions: 2-102.12 and chapter 12 carry the 2013-edition CFPM formulation, and the person-in-charge knowledge demonstration at 2-102.11 runs to seventeen points rather than the later editions’ list. Adopting rule effective 2020-10-25.

What the sources do not say

Sources checked for every negative below: statute (Wis. Stat. ss. 97.33, 97.01(14g), 97.30, 97.41 – full section text) -> administrative rule (ch. ATCP 75 section list and ss. 75.01-75.04; the Wisconsin Food Code Appendix in full, 363,032 characters, including all of chapter 12 and 2-102/2-103) -> agency (DATCP Food Manager Requirements page, CFMRequirements fact sheet rev. 04/2025, Food Safety Course Directory) -> local (Milwaukee Health Department food pages and MCO ch. 68 in full). Absence from these sources is reported as such and is not proof of non-existence.

  • No state manager fee found, yet the statute directs one. s. 97.33(6)(a) tells DATCP to promulgate a fee rule for certification and recertification. No such fee appears in ch. ATCP 75 – whose only fee section is ATCP 75.08, “Retail food establishment fees” – nor in the Food Code Appendix, nor anywhere on DATCP’s food-manager pages. We did not read ATCP 74 (the department’s other food-and-lodging fee chapter): docs.legis.wisconsin.gov refused every connection. This is a named open item, not a settled zero.
  • No manager application form. The only application linked from DATCP’s page is “Application for Food Safety Training for Small Operators Recertification Course,” a curriculum-approval application filed by a training provider under 12-402.11(E). the application link is therefore the sentinel “none.”
  • No state registry or verification LOOKUP for certificate holders was found on any DATCP page; the wi-food-handler record’s earlier check of license.wi.gov and the DSPS credential search likewise found no food credential. Proof of the credential is the posted certificate (12-201.11(B)), not a public lookup.
  • No passing SCORE, retake rule, exam time limit or exam validity window is set by Wisconsin at any level; those are the accredited program’s terms. Proctoring is required, but by DATCP’s directory note rather than by statute or rule.
  • No minimum training hours for initial certification anywhere in s. 97.33 or Food Code ch. 12. The only hours figure in the credential is the small-operator recertification course’s “at least 3 hours” (12-402.11(B)).
  • No presence / on-duty requirement at state level (see the presence rule). The only on-site rule found in Wisconsin is Milwaukee’s shared-kitchen provision.
  • No grace period published for an establishment whose certified manager leaves mid-license. The two 90-day windows that do exist address a new/changed operator and a lapsed certificate.
  • No multi-establishment rule for restaurants (see the multi-establishment coverage details on this page); the only express multi-site allowance is the one-per-school-district rule at s. 97.33(1m).
  • No pending or future manager requirement was found in s. 97.33’s history line (which ends at 2017 a. 366), in the ATCP 75 history notes (CR 17-074, eff. 10-25-20), on DATCP’s page, or on Milwaukee’s. this page did not search the 2025-26 Wisconsin Legislature’s bill database – legis.wisconsin.gov was unreachable – so a pending bill would not have been seen.
  • Not covered by this page (as of September 5, 2026), and so not asserted: (a) a county-by-county ordinance search (only Milwaukee, the largest agent jurisdiction, was read); (b) ch. ATCP 74; (c) the ANAB directory itself (cited only as the list DATCP points to); (d) any check of whether DATCP still operates the issuance procedure s. 97.33(6)(c) contemplates – the unresolved question flagged in the certificate issuer and the credential model.
  • STALENESS, stated rather than hidden: docs.legis.wisconsin.gov and legis.wisconsin.gov refused every connection we tried, so all statute and rule text here comes from a stored copy of the official page (s. 97.33 published 12-19-25; s. 97.01 published 1-1-25; ATCP 75 chapter copied 2025-12-20; Food Code Appendix at Register November 2024 No. 827). Those copies close the question “what does this source say”; they do not close “is it still current.” The last-verified date reflects a live read of the DATCP and Milwaukee sources only.