Minnesota doesn't require a food handlers card for food employees. Its food code, Minnesota Rules 4626.0033, requires a certified food protection manager (CFPM) at each food establishment instead, and Minnesota issues the certificate itself: you pass an accredited exam, then apply to the Department of Health within six months with a $45 fee and a $5 technology fee. The certificate is valid for 3 years from the exam date, and renewing it takes 4 hours of approved continuing education during those years, not a new exam. The current certificate is displayed in the establishment, and a place that loses its CFPM has 60 days to employ a new one. Low-risk places, special event food stands, food trucks, carts and portable structures, and kitchens limited to simple foods are exempt. In the example below, a Minneapolis pho restaurant checks five people. Below are the rules, the renewal, the example, and a free roster.
The short version
- No food handlers card for food employees in Minnesota.
- Each food establishment employs a certified food protection manager, unless exempt.
- Pass an accredited exam, then apply to the Minnesota Department of Health within 6 months.
- The fee is $45 plus a $5 technology fee.
- The certificate lasts 3 years from the exam date.
- Renew with 4 hours of approved continuing education during the 3 years; no new exam.
- Display a current original or duplicate certificate in the establishment.
- A place that loses its CFPM has 60 days to employ a new one.
- TaroStack keeps the batch records and sign-offs an inspector reads; it doesn't track certificates. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What Minnesota Rules 4626.0033 says |
|---|---|
| Food handler card | None required |
| CFPM | Each food establishment employs one, including one that reheats ready-to-eat TCS food for hot holding |
| Exempt | Low-risk establishments; special event food stands; retail food vehicles, portable structures and carts; kitchens limited to non-TCS foods, raw meat for the customer to cook, or precooked hot dogs, popcorn, nachos, pretzels or frozen pizza |
| Opening | A full-time employee who has taken the course and passed the exam counts at opening, if certified within 60 days |
| Display | A current original or duplicate certificate in the establishment |
| Turnover | A new CFPM within 60 days |
| The CFPM's job | Identifying hazards, setting procedures, coordinating training, supervising, and self-inspections |
| The certificate | Issued by the commissioner after an accredited exam taken within the 6 months before applying; valid statewide for 3 years from the exam date |
| Renewal | At least 4 contact hours of approved continuing education within the certificate's dates |
| Fees | $45 for certification or renewal, $25 for a duplicate, plus a $5 technology fee (Minnesota Statutes 157.16) |
The rule is Minnesota Rules 4626.0033, and the fees are in Minnesota Statutes 157.16. This is general information, not legal advice.
Renewing on time
A Minnesota certificate is effective from the day you passed the exam, and each renewal starts the day after the old one expires, so the dates never drift. The continuing education has to be finished within the certificate's dates, at least 4 contact hours of courses the commissioner approved, each at least an hour long. The rule allows the renewal application up to 6 months after the expiry, but the hours themselves have to fall within the certificate's dates. How a home kitchen sells in Minnesota instead is in Minnesota cottage food law.
An example: a pho restaurant
Lake Street Pho, a made-up pho restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I use in these examples, simmers broth overnight and runs a stand at a summer festival:
| Person | Role | Certificate or training | Date | Status on October 16, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Certified food protection manager | Minnesota CFPM certificate | March 18, 2024 | Current to March 18, 2027 |
| Kitchen lead | Second certified manager | Minnesota CFPM certificate | November 6, 2023 | Expires November 6, 2026 |
| Cook | Food employee | Employer training | April 21, 2025 | On file |
| Server | Food employee | Employer training | January 12, 2026 | On file |
| Festival helper | Special event food stand | Employer training | June 1, 2026 | On file |
The kitchen lead's certificate runs out November 6, and they have 2 of the 4 continuing education hours, so the other 2 are booked for this month, before the date. The festival stand needed no CFPM under its special event license, but the helper got the same training as the kitchen. How the broth's overnight cooling is logged is in temperature log template, and a cleaning program in sanitation SOP template.
Get the roster
Download the Minnesota food safety roster. One sheet: each person, their role, the certificate or training they hold and the date; the expiry, 3 years for the Minnesota CFPM certificate, and the status fill in, red when expired, with a count of current certified managers. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Every certificate has its own 3-year clock and its own continuing education hours to finish inside it. A frame on the wall doesn't show who's two hours short with three weeks to go.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack doesn't track food safety certificates. It keeps the production records an inspector reads alongside them.
Batch records with sign-off. Printable batch-record forms carry your own checklist fields and a sign-off, so a batch of broth'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 a new server sees what they need, not costs.
Lots and expiry. Each batch of broth gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and first-expired-first-out is the default, so yesterday's broth is used first.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Who signed off a batch | Initials on paper | A sign-off on the batch record |
| What a new server can see | Everything on the shared login | A role limited to their work |
| Which broth to use first | Remembered | First-expired-first-out |
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.