Pennsylvania doesn't require a food handlers card for every employee. Its Food Employee Certification Act, 3 Pa.C.S. Chapter 65, requires something narrower: every retail food facility, a restaurant, a store, a market stand, has at least one employee with a valid food safety certificate from a program accredited to the Conference for Food Protection's standards, present or immediately accessible at all hours of operation, and that person is the person in charge when on duty. A new facility has three months after licensing to comply, and three months after losing its certified employee. A certified employee covers one facility only, except for a proprietor's several stands at one temporary event. Places that sell only prepackaged food, or only food that isn't potentially hazardous, are exempt, and so are food processors and nonprofit groups. The state sets the training rules, except for local programs older than September 1, 1994. In the example below, a Wilkes-Barre sausage kitchen checks five people. Below are the rules, the exemptions, the example, and a free roster.
The short version
- No food handlers card for every employee in Pennsylvania.
- At least one employee holds a valid food safety certificate from an accredited program.
- That person is present or immediately accessible at all hours, and is the person in charge when on duty.
- Three months after licensing to comply; three months after losing the certified employee.
- One certified employee per facility, except several stands at one temporary event.
- Keep the names and certificate numbers at the place of business.
- Exempt: only prepackaged food, only non-potentially hazardous food, food processors, nonprofits.
- Local programs from before September 1, 1994 can still apply.
- TaroStack keeps the batch records and sign-offs an inspector reads; it doesn't track certificates. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What 3 Pa.C.S. Chapter 65 says |
|---|---|
| Food handler card | None for every employee |
| Who's covered | Retail food facilities: public eating or drinking places and retail food establishments |
| The certificate | From a program accredited to the Conference for Food Protection's manager certification standards |
| How many | At least one certified employee present or immediately accessible during all hours of operation |
| One place | A certified employee is the required one for a single facility, except several temporary stands at one event |
| New facility | Three months after licensing |
| Turnover | Three months from losing the certified employee |
| Records | Names and certificate numbers kept at the place of business, for the licensor |
| Penalties | Up to $300 for a first offense and $1,000 after, where the Department of Agriculture licenses |
| Local rules | The state preempts training standards, except local programs set up before September 1, 1994 |
The law is 3 Pa.C.S. Chapter 65, sections 6503, 6504, 6508 and 6510. Your licensor, the Department of Agriculture or a local health department, inspects. This is general information, not legal advice.
The exemptions
| Exempt from the certification rule | Note |
|---|---|
| Facilities handling and selling only commercially prepackaged food | And any shift when only prepackaged food is sold |
| Facilities handling only non-potentially hazardous food | And any shift when only such food is handled and sold |
| Food establishments | Processors and manufacturers, not retail food facilities |
| 501(c)(3) organizations | They can choose to certify |
| Volunteer fire companies, religious, charitable, fraternal, veterans and civic groups run not-for-profit | Including agricultural fairs and their auxiliaries |
| Not-for-profit youth recreation groups for school activities | Not organized camps |
A home kitchen selling under Pennsylvania's limited food establishment rules is covered in Pennsylvania cottage food laws.
An example: a sausage kitchen
Nanticoke Sausage Kitchen, the made-up sausage kitchen in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, I use in these examples, sells fresh and smoked sausage over its own counter six days a week:
| Person | Role | Certificate or training | Date | Status on October 16, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Certified employee, person in charge weekdays | Food safety certificate | September 12, 2022 | Current to September 12, 2027 |
| Counter lead | Certified employee, person in charge Saturdays | Food safety certificate | October 25, 2021 | Expires October 25, 2026 |
| Sausage maker | Employee | Employer training | March 4, 2024 | On file |
| Counter, new | Employee | None | None on file | |
| Driver, sealed packages only | Employee | None | None on file |
The owner isn't in on Saturdays, so the counter lead's certificate is what keeps Saturdays covered, and it runs out in nine days. The counter lead takes the exam this week; until then, the owner stays reachable on Saturdays, the law's "immediately accessible". The new counter hire is trained by the owner on handwashing, temperatures and the slicer before working alone. How the sausage itself is costed is in sausage making business plan, and its temperatures logged in temperature log template.
Get the roster
Download the Pennsylvania food safety roster. One sheet: each person, their role, the certificate or training they hold and the date; the expiry, 5 years for the food safety certificate and 3 for a food handler course, and the status fill in, red when expired, with a count of current certified employees. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A certified employee has to cover every hour the doors are open, certificates expire on their own dates, and the names and numbers have to be at the counter when the inspector asks. A schedule on the wall doesn't show whose certificate covers Saturday.
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 kielbasa's smokehouse temperature, and who checked 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 counter hire sees what they need, not costs.
Lots on every package. Each batch gets a lot that records the meat lots it used, and lot labels print for the case.
| 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 |
| Which meat went into a batch | Not recorded | Lots recorded on the batch |
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.