In Florida, every food service employee at a public food service establishment, anyone responsible for storing, preparing, displaying or serving food, gets food safety training certification within 60 days of being hired, under Florida Statutes 509.049. The training comes from a program the Division of Hotels and Restaurants approves, there's no state exam, a certified food manager at the restaurant can give it, and the certification lasts 3 years. The restaurant shows proof on request: each employee's name, date of birth, training date and the program used. The rule follows the license: restaurants, cafés, caterers and food trucks licensed by the Division are covered, while a bakery, grocery or food plant permitted by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is outside it. In the example below, a St. Augustine café checks five people. Below are the rules, who's covered, the example, and a free roster.
The short version
- Covered: food service employees who store, prepare, display or serve food at a public food service establishment.
- Certification within 60 days after employment, valid for 3 years.
- The training is from a program the Division of Hotels and Restaurants approves; the law sets no exam.
- A certified food service manager at the establishment can give the training.
- Proof on request: the employee's name, date of birth, training date and the approved program.
- Each trained employee gets an original card, and the establishment an original certificate.
- Places permitted or inspected by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services aren't public food service establishments.
- TaroStack keeps the batch records and sign-offs an inspector reads; it doesn't track cards. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What Florida Statutes 509.049 says |
|---|---|
| Who | Food service employees responsible for the storage, preparation, display or serving of food to the public |
| Where | Public food service establishments regulated under chapter 509 |
| When | Certification within 60 days after employment |
| Valid | 3 years |
| The training | Meets the Division's minimum standards; no examination; through the Division's contracted provider or an approved program |
| Who trains | The establishment provides it, and may designate a certified food service manager |
| Proof | Name, date of birth, training date and approved program, for each employee, at any inspection |
| Cards | An original certificate for the establishment and an original card for each employee, shown in original form on request |
The law is Florida Statutes 509.049, and "public food service establishment" is defined in 509.013. This is general information, not legal advice.
Who's covered, and who isn't
A public food service establishment is anywhere food is prepared, served or sold for eating on or near the premises, taken out, or prepared to be delivered elsewhere: restaurants, cafés, caterers, food trucks. The definition leaves out, among others, school and university dining for students, church and nonprofit eating places for members or short events, health care facilities regulated elsewhere, and any place of business permitted or inspected by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services under section 500.12, the department that permits food plants, groceries and many bakeries. So a café is in; a packaged granola maker's FDACS-permitted kitchen is out. How Florida's home kitchen rules work is in Florida cottage food law.
An example: a café
Coquina Coast Café, a made-up café in St. Augustine, Florida, I use in these examples, serves breakfast and lunch, and its owner is a certified food manager who trains new staff:
| Person | Covered? | Hired | Trained | Status on October 16, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook | Yes | March 6, 2023 | April 12, 2023 | Expired April 12, 2026 |
| Barista | Yes | May 19, 2025 | June 30, 2025 | Current to June 30, 2028 |
| Server | Yes | November 11, 2024 | December 2, 2024 | Current |
| Server, new | Yes | September 21, 2026 | Due by November 20 | |
| Dishwasher | No: doesn't store, prepare, display or serve food | Not needed |
The cook's three years ran out in April. The owner retrained the cook with the approved program, recorded the name, date of birth, date and program for the file, and set the new server's training for the first week of November. How a café keeps its stock is in coffee shop inventory spreadsheet, and how a kitchen logs temperatures in temperature log template.
Get the roster
Download the Florida food handler roster. One sheet: each person, whether the rule covers them, the hire date and training date; the 60-day due date, the 3-year expiry and the status fill in, red when overdue or expired. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Sixty days for every new hire, three years for every certificate, and an inspector who asks for four details per employee. A shoebox of cards doesn't answer that quickly.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack doesn't track food handler training. It keeps the production records an inspector reads alongside it.
Batch records with sign-off. Printable batch-record forms carry your own checklist fields and a sign-off, so a batch of chicken salad's cooling check, and who did it, is on the record.
People by role. Each person has a role, such as production, limited to the sites they work at, so the new server sees orders, not costs.
Lots and expiry. Each batch gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and one recall report shows which customers got it.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Who signed off a batch | Initials on paper | A sign-off on the batch record |
| What a new hire can see | Everything on the shared login | A role limited to their work |
| Where a batch went | Invoices | One recall report |
Lots, batches and recipes are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.