In Oregon, anyone who prepares or serves food in a licensed restaurant or food service facility completes a food handler training program within 30 days of being hired, under ORS 624.570, and keeps a valid certificate for as long as they work there. The program costs $10 or less, the certificate lasts 3 years, and one earned in any county is good across the state. Oregon has no exemption for managers: the owner who works the counter needs one too. Temporary restaurants at fairs and events are the exception: their workers don't each need the training, but at least one trained person must be on the premises at all times. In the example below, a Medford pie shop checks six people. Below are the rules, the example, and a free roster.
The short version
- Anyone involved in preparing or serving food in a licensed restaurant or food service facility.
- Food handler training and a certificate within 30 days of hire, kept valid throughout the job.
- The program fee is $10 or less; a retake can cost another fee, a duplicate certificate up to $5.
- The certificate expires 3 years after it's issued.
- Programs from the Oregon Health Authority or an approved local program count anywhere in Oregon.
- Commissaries, warehouses, mobile units and vending licensed under ORS 624.320 are covered too.
- Temporary restaurants: at least one trained person on the premises at all times.
- TaroStack keeps the batch records and sign-offs an inspector reads; it doesn't track cards. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What ORS 624.570 says |
|---|---|
| Who | Any person involved in the preparation or service of food in a restaurant or food service facility licensed under ORS 624.020 or 624.320 |
| When | A certificate of completion within 30 days after the date of hire |
| After that | A valid certificate at all times during the employment |
| Valid | Expires 3 years after the date of issuance |
| Where | A program from the Oregon Health Authority, or an approved local public health program, is valid statewide |
| Fee | No more than $10; a new fee for each retake; up to $5 for a duplicate |
| Temporary restaurants | Workers exempt, but at least one person who completed the training on the premises at all times |
The law is ORS 624.570; an annotated copy is easier to read. This is general information, not legal advice.
Who it covers
The rule follows the license. A restaurant licensed under ORS 624.020, or a commissary, warehouse, mobile unit or vending machine licensed under 624.320, is covered. A food processor licensed by the Oregon Department of Agriculture isn't licensed under chapter 624, so a packaged-food plant falls outside it while the same business's café falls inside. How Oregon's home kitchen rules work is in Oregon cottage food law.
An example: a pie shop
Rogue Valley Pie Co., a made-up pie shop in Medford, Oregon, I use in these examples, has a counter and sells slices from a booth at the county fair:
| Person | Covered? | Hired | Certificate | Status on October 16, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Yes | March 2, 2025 | Current to March 2, 2028 | |
| Baker | Yes | April 10, 2023 | April 28, 2023 | Expired April 28, 2026 |
| Counter | Yes | July 14, 2025 | July 30, 2025 | Current |
| Counter, new | Yes | October 5, 2026 | Due by November 4 | |
| Bookkeeper | No: doesn't prepare or serve food | Not needed | ||
| County fair helper | No: temporary restaurant | Not needed; the owner worked the booth |
The baker's certificate ran out in April. The baker retook the program online for the $10 fee, and the shop put every expiry date in one sheet. At the fair, the owner's certificate covered the booth's one-trained-person rule. What a pie business's costs look like is in pie business plan, and how a kitchen logs temperatures in temperature log template.
Get the roster
Download the Oregon food handler roster. One sheet: each person, whether the rule covers them, the hire date and certificate date; the 30-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
Every certificate runs three years from its own date, the owner needs one like everyone else, and the fair booth needs a trained person every hour it's open. A drawer of certificates doesn't show who's next.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack doesn't track food handler cards. 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 cream pies' 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 counter hire 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.