Last verified: August 2026 against the Illinois Compiled Statutes and IDPH. Confirm with the Illinois Department of Public Health before paying for anything.
| Required | Get it within | Valid for |
|---|---|---|
| Yes, statewide | 30 days from hire | 3 years (restaurants) |
Law: 410 ILCS 625/3.06 · Authority: Illinois IDPH · Verified: August 2026
Required statewide within 30 days of hire: an accredited course, not a state-issued card.
Illinois is one of the states where the answer is yes. If you handle food for pay in Illinois, you must obtain food handler training — within 30 days of being hired, and from an ANSI-accredited programme if you work in a restaurant.
That makes Illinois different from most of the states covered on this site, and it means the details are worth getting right: what counts, how long it lasts, what it should cost, and who is genuinely exempt. Several of those points are widely reported backwards.
Quick answer
- Is food handler training required in Illinois? Yes, statewide, for essentially all paid food handlers.
- How soon? Within 30 days of employment. Same deadline whether you work in a restaurant or not.
- How long does it last? Restaurant workers renew every 3 years. Non-restaurant workers have no statutory renewal at all.
- Is there an Illinois food handler card? Yes — but not a state-issued one. Illinois requires food handler training, and the certificate your accredited provider issues is what people mean by an Illinois food handler card. There is no IDPH card, registry or state number. Your proof is whatever the accredited provider issues, and the law expressly allows it to be electronic.
- Who is exempt? Anyone holding a food service sanitation manager certificate. Per IDPH, also unpaid volunteers and temporary food establishment employees.
- Does Chicago have its own food handler card? No. It cannot — state law preempts local regulation of food handler training and expressly denies home rule powers. Chicago’s difference is at the manager level.
- What should it cost? The law guarantees at least one approved module at no more than $15.
What the law actually says
The requirement lives in the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act, and it is split across two sections by the type of place you work.
Restaurants — 410 ILCS 625/3.06
“all food handlers employed by a restaurant, other than someone holding a food service sanitation manager certificate, must receive or obtain American National Standards Institute-accredited training in basic safe food handling principles within 30 days after employment and every 3 years thereafter.”
A “restaurant” is defined in 3.06(a) as “any business that is primarily engaged in the sale of ready-to-eat food for immediate consumption,” with “primarily engaged” meaning ready-to-eat sales of at least 51% of total sales, excluding the sale of liquor.
That liquor exclusion matters more than it sounds. A bar with heavy drink revenue can fall on the non-restaurant side of the line, because liquor sales come out of the calculation entirely. Which side you land on changes whether you ever have to renew.
Everywhere else — 410 ILCS 625/3.05
Section 3.05(a) covers all food handlers not employed by a restaurant — groceries, convenience stores, retail, institutions. Same 30-day deadline, same exemption for manager certificate holders, but the training must meet the content requirements in 3.05(b) and there is no renewal requirement in the statute.
Both sections require that proof of training “be available upon reasonable request by a State or local health department inspector,” and both allow it to be provided electronically.
The exemption everyone reads backwards
This is the single most misreported sentence in Illinois food law, and it appears in 3.06(b):
“Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 3.05 of this Act, food handlers employed in nursing homes, licensed early care and education homes and locations, hospitals, schools, and long-term care facilities must renew their training every 3 years.”
Vendor pages — and occasionally local health department handouts — read that list of settings as a list of exemptions. It is the opposite. The clause exists to pull those workplaces into the three-year renewal cycle even though they would otherwise sit under Section 3.05, which has no renewal.
If you work in a school kitchen, a hospital, a nursing home, a day care or a long-term care facility: you renew every three years. You are not exempt.
Who genuinely is exempt
- Holders of a food service sanitation manager certificate — exempt by statute, in both sections. If you hold the manager certification you do not need separate food handler training.
- Unpaid volunteers — per IDPH: “Only paid food employees need to have food handler training.”
- Temporary food establishment employees — per IDPH, also exempt.
Worth being precise about the last two: neither exemption appears in the statute. Both are IDPH interpretation. They are the position of the agency that enforces the Act, which is good enough to rely on in practice, but they are guidance rather than statutory text — so treat them as IDPH’s position, not as something written into the law.
Which training actually counts
Illinois approves food handler training by accreditation, not by keeping a list of blessed companies. Section 3.06(e) says it plainly:
“If an entity uses an American National Standards Institute food handler training accredited program, that training program shall be automatically approved by the Department.”
Automatically. There is no application, no waiting period, and no state seal of approval to look for. IDPH confirms the same on its own page: “Food handler training programs are required to be ANSI accredited or an internal training program approved by IDPH,” and adds that “currently, IDPH only approves internal training programs for non-restaurants.”
There is no IDPH list of approved providers — so verify it yourself
This trips people up constantly. If a training site tells you it is “on the Illinois approved provider list,” there is no such list to be on. IDPH does not publish one, and the reason is in the statute: materials submitted for approval are confidential and exempt from disclosure.
What IDPH does instead is point at the accreditation directory. So can you. Before you pay anyone:
- Open the ANAB accredited certificate issuer directory — the same directory IDPH links to.
- Find the food handler programme listing.
- Check the provider’s name is on it, with a status of Accredited.
As of August 2026 that directory lists roughly two dozen accredited food handler certificate issuers. If a provider is not among them, their certificate does not satisfy 3.06 for restaurant work in Illinois, no matter what their sales page says.
This online food handler course is one option that passes that test: its provider, DSBWorldWide (EduClasses), is listed in the ANAB directory as an accredited food handler certificate issuer, so under 3.06(e) it is automatically approved by IDPH for Illinois restaurant work. Verify it on the directory yourself before paying — that check is the only thing that settles it, and it applies to this course exactly as it applies to every other. We earn a commission if you enrol through that link, which is precisely why we would rather you confirm the accreditation than take our word for it.
One naming note that causes needless worry: the statute says “American National Standards Institute-accredited,” while the accrediting body operates as ANAB (the ANSI National Accreditation Board). “ANSI-accredited” and “ANAB-accredited” mean the same thing here. A certificate saying ANAB is not a different or lesser thing.
What the course has to cover
Illinois prescribes the content by law rather than leaving it to the provider. Under 3.05(b), mirrored in the Illinois Administrative Code at 77 Ill. Adm. Code 750.210, training must cover time and temperature control and thermometers; personal hygiene and handler health; preventing contamination at all stages; cleaning and sanitizing equipment and utensils; and cross-contamination, housekeeping and maintenance.
In practice these courses run 60 to 120 minutes.
What it should cost — and the clause nobody mentions
Section 3.06(g) guarantees a price ceiling on at least one option:
“There must be at least one commercially available, approved food handler training module at a cost of no more than $15 per employee; if an approved food handler training module is not available at that cost, then the provisions of this Section 3.06 shall not apply.”
Read that second half again. The entire Illinois restaurant food handler mandate is conditional on a $15-or-less approved module existing. If the market ever stopped offering one, the requirement would switch itself off. Section 3.05(c) contains the same self-repeal for non-restaurants.
It is not a live escape hatch — compliant modules exist well under $15, and some local health departments list options around $10. But it tells you what the legislature considered a fair price, and it is a good answer to anyone quoting you $40 for a mandatory course.
Who pays
The Act does not require your employer to pay for your training. Many do, and larger operators often run their own programme. If you are paying yourself, the $15 benchmark is the number to hold in mind.
Transferability — the detail that decides whether you pay twice
This is genuinely useful and almost never explained. Section 3.06(b) draws a distinction:
- ANSI-accredited training, and training from a certified local health department (subsections (e) and (f)) is “transferable between employers, but not individuals.”
- Internal and multi-state-business programmes (subsections (c) and (d)) are “not transferable between individuals or employers.”
- Non-restaurant training under 3.05(a) is “not transferable between individuals or employers.”
The practical consequence: if your employer trains you through their own in-house programme and you change jobs, that training does not travel with you and you will need to do it again. If you take an ANSI-accredited course, it does. If you expect to move between restaurants, an accredited course is worth more than a free in-house one.
IDPH states the non-restaurant position directly: those workers “are not required to take another food handler training unless they go to work for another employer.”
Chicago, Cook County and local rules
Illinois preempts local regulation of food handler training in unusually strong terms. Section 3.06(h), repeated verbatim at 3.05(d):
“The regulation of food handler training is considered to be an exclusive function of the State, and local regulation is prohibited. This subsection (h) is a denial and limitation of home rule powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.”
The express denial of home rule powers is what makes this bind Chicago. No Illinois city or county can impose its own food handler card, add hours, or require a particular local course. If you see a “Chicago food handler card” for sale, it is a state-required course with a city name attached to it for marketing.
How to get your food handler training in Chicago or Cook County
If you work as a food handler anywhere in Illinois — including Chicago, suburban Cook County, or any other county — the process is the same: complete an ANSI-accredited food handler course within 30 days of being hired.
- Pick any ANAB-accredited online course. There is no Chicago list and no Cook County list. State law preempts local rules entirely. Verify the course against the ANAB accredited certificate issuer directory before paying.
- Cost: $7–$15. Illinois law guarantees at least one approved module at or below $15. If a site charges more, look elsewhere.
- Time: roughly 1–2 hours online. Most accredited courses run 60–90 minutes. You can complete it at home before your first shift.
- No card is issued by the state or city. Your proof of training is whatever certificate the accredited provider gives you — paper or electronic. An inspector can ask to see it; electronic is expressly permitted.
- It transfers between employers. An accredited certificate is valid regardless of where in Illinois you work next, provided it has not expired (3-year renewal for restaurant workers).
If you are becoming the person in charge in Chicago — that is a separate requirement. You need the City of Chicago Department of Health food service sanitation certificate, from a Department-approved provider, with a $45 fee. That is a manager-level credential, not a food handler card. See the section below.
What Chicago does require — and it is real
Chicago’s difference is at the manager level, where preemption does not apply. Chicago Municipal Code § 7-38-012 requires every food establishment to have present, whenever time/temperature control for safety food is prepared, held or served, “a person in charge who holds a Department of Health food service sanitation certificate.”
That is a City of Chicago certificate, not the state credential:
- Obtained through a Department-approved course and monitored examination from a Department-approved provider — here Chicago genuinely does run a named list, reissued several times a year.
- $45 certificate fee payable to the Department of Health.
- Valid five years from the date you pass the examination.
- Must be “posted conspicuously in that part of the retail food establishment to which the public has access.”
- Can be suspended or revoked by CDPH where the establishment has a record of repeated violations.
CDPH also operates reciprocity: if you hold a valid ANSI-accredited Certified Food Protection Manager certification, you may be able to apply for the Chicago certificate on that basis rather than re-sitting. Details are on the CDPH certification page.
As for food handlers, Chicago’s own rules simply adopt the state requirement — and add one narrow exemption of their own, for food handlers working a temporary or special event. Chicago separately requires a Summer Festival Food Vendor Certificate holder on site at special events serving TCS food, renewed yearly and expiring 31 March.
Chicago’s code section that looks like a worker card and is not
Chicago Municipal Code § 7-38-010 is headed “Food handler requirements.” It requires employees who handle unwrapped food, utensils or receptacles to “maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and conform to hygienic practices prescribed in and comply with all of the food handler requirements of the code and in the rules of the Department of Health.”
It is a personal hygiene and conduct provision that points back to the Department’s rules. It sets no hours, no timeframe, no validity period and no approval mechanism, and it creates no city credential.
Suburban Cook County and the rest of the state
The Cook County Department of Public Health covers suburban and unincorporated Cook County, separately from Chicago, and publishes no food handler requirement of its own — it enforces the state rule as an IDPH delegate agency. DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, Winnebago, Champaign-Urbana, Peoria, Sangamon, Madison, McLean, McHenry and Rock Island all restate or defer to the state requirement.
Several publish lists of training providers. Treat those as convenience listings, not approval lists — McHenry County says so explicitly, noting that it “does not certify the capabilities or endorse any of the certification classes on this list.” The gate is accreditation, and the accreditation directory is the authority.
Two local wrinkles worth knowing
Six counties may run their own approved programme. Section 3.06(f) lets certified local health departments in counties of 100,000 or fewer people, plus six specifically identified by their 2010 census populations, operate a training programme meeting the 3.05(b) content standard. That is permission to supply training, not to require anything different.
St. Clair County can order you to retrain. Its food ordinance, adopted 28 October 2024 and effective 1 January 2025, provides that the regulatory authority “may order any food handler to attend an immediate food handler training course” where work habits constitute a hazard to public health, and that “fees may be charged.” This is remedial and case-by-case rather than a general standard — but it is the one published local provision in Illinois that can compel additional handler training.
What else Illinois requires of you
Illinois adopted the 2022 FDA Food Code at 77 Ill. Adm. Code 750.110(c)(1), effective 22 March 2024. Most of your day-to-day duties come from there rather than from freestanding Illinois text.
- Employee health, exclusion and restriction — with an Illinois-specific twist: exclusion and restriction are applied “in accordance with the Control of Notifiable Diseases and Conditions Code,” routing those decisions through Illinois communicable disease rules rather than the federal text alone.
- Handwashing — note Illinois lowered the required handwashing water temperature to 85°F in the 2022 adoption, down from 100°F.
- Allergens — employees “must be able to describe major food allergens and the symptoms of an allergic reaction.” Separately, 410 ILCS 625/3.08 requires restaurants to post allergy notices and requires employees to communicate allergy information to management or a certified manager.
- Person in charge — Illinois added that a person in charge is not always needed for low-risk establishments, and that the person in charge must ensure employees monitor thawing temperatures through the day.
The manager certification, and how it interacts
Illinois requires each food service establishment to operate under the supervision of a certified food service sanitation manager. Since 1 January 2018 you qualify by completing a minimum of 8 hours of Department-approved training and passing an examination accredited by the Conference for Food Protection. Certificates are valid five years and are non-transferable.
Note the asymmetry, because it confuses people who look both up: manager exams are approved through Conference for Food Protection accreditation, while handler courses are approved through ANSI/ANAB accreditation. Different accreditors, both legitimate, and a certificate for one is not a certificate for the other.
The practical interaction: holding the manager certificate exempts you from food handler training entirely, under both 3.05(a) and 3.06(b). You do not need both.
Documents that will mislead you
Illinois has an unusual number of superseded official documents still sitting live, and they contradict current law on points that matter.
- IDPH’s 2016 FAQ PDF (version 6, 12 April 2016) is still online — and a copy is mirrored on chicago.gov. It states that non-restaurant certificates are “valid three years but non-transferable.” That is wrong under current guidance: IDPH’s live web FAQ says non-restaurant workers need no further training unless they change employer, which is what the statute actually provides. Use the web FAQ, not the PDF.
- The 2018 Illinois Food Code PDF is still hosted by IDPH, superseded by the amendment effective 22 March 2024.
- Kane County hosts an IDPH food handler FAQ dated 12 May 2014 — two versions behind even the stale PDF above.
- DuPage County’s provider fact sheet exists in two live versions, current and February 2019, with materially different provider lists.
- Chicago’s current Food Code Rules are served at a URL reading “02-01-2019” despite being the version published 28 September 2023 and effective 1 October 2023. The superseded 2019 rules sit in the same directory under a near-identical name.
The general lesson, which applies well beyond Illinois: a .gov address tells you who published a document, not whether it is still in force. Check the effective date on the document itself.
What an Illinois food handler card actually is
When people say “Illinois food handler card,” they mean the certificate issued after completing accredited food handler training — that certificate is what satisfies Illinois law and what your employer will ask to see. What does not exist is a state-issued version: there is no IDPH card, no state registry, and no state number. The requirement is to obtain training; the proof is whatever your accredited provider issues, and the law expressly allows it electronically. Anything marketed as an official state credential is misdescribing itself.
What to do
- Work out which side of the 51% line your workplace falls on. It determines whether you renew every three years or never. Remember liquor sales are excluded from that calculation.
- If you hold a food service sanitation manager certificate — stop here. You are exempt.
- Check the provider against the accreditation directory before paying. Not against their own claims, and not against a county convenience list.
- Do not pay more than about $15 unless you are choosing a longer course deliberately. The law guarantees an approved module at or below that price.
- Prefer an accredited course over your employer in-house one if you expect to change jobs — only the accredited one transfers between employers.
- Keep your certificate where you can reach it. An inspector can ask for it, and electronic proof is expressly allowed.
- In Chicago, if you are becoming the person in charge — you need the City certificate, from a Department-approved provider, and it is a genuinely separate thing from the state credential.
How to get your Illinois food handler card
Getting an Illinois food handler card means completing an ANSI-accredited food handler training course and keeping the certificate it issues. There is no separate state application, exam appointment, or registry lookup — the provider’s certificate is the credential.
- Pick an ANSI-accredited provider. IDPH does not publish an approved list, so verify accreditation yourself before paying.
- Complete the course. Illinois law guarantees at least one approved module priced at no more than $15.
- Save the certificate. Electronic proof is expressly permitted — a phone screenshot is acceptable.
- Meet the 30-day deadline. You have 30 days from your start date, whether you work in a restaurant or not.
- Renew on time. Restaurant workers renew every 3 years. Non-restaurant workers have no statutory renewal.
The same Illinois food handler card is valid statewide, including Chicago and suburban Cook County. State law preempts local regulation of food handler training, so no Illinois municipality can require a different or additional worker card.
Illinois at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Food handler training required? | Yes — statewide, all paid food handlers |
| Deadline | 30 days after employment |
| Restaurant renewal | Every 3 years |
| Non-restaurant renewal | None in statute |
| Schools, hospitals, nursing homes, day care, LTC | Renew every 3 years — this is a mandate, not an exemption |
| Exempt | Manager certificate holders (statute); volunteers and temporary events (IDPH guidance) |
| State-issued card? | No — no card, registry or number |
| How training is approved | ANSI/ANAB accreditation, automatically — there is no IDPH provider list |
| Price ceiling | At least one approved module at $15 or less, by law |
| Transferable between employers? | Accredited training yes; in-house and non-restaurant training no |
| Local rules | Preempted — home rule powers expressly denied |
| Chicago food handler card? | No such thing |
| Chicago manager certificate | Yes — $45, 5 years, approved provider list, must be posted |
| Food Code edition | 2022 FDA Food Code, effective 22 March 2024 |
Sources: 410 ILCS 625/3, 3.05, 3.06, 3.08 (Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act); 77 Ill. Adm. Code Part 750; Illinois Department of Public Health; Chicago Municipal Code §§ 7-38-010, 7-38-012 and 4-8-040; Chicago Department of Public Health Food Code Rules; ANAB accredited certificate issuer directory; and the published pages of the Cook County, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, Winnebago, Champaign-Urbana, Peoria, Sangamon, Madison, St. Clair, McLean, McHenry and Rock Island health departments. Statutory quotations were verified against the Illinois General Assembly text, not against training providers.
Managing or supervising an Illinois food establishment? See Illinois Food Manager Certification.
Work across a state line?
Food handler rules follow the establishment’s location, not where you live. If you work in a neighbouring state, its requirements may be different:
Frequently asked questions
Does Illinois require a food handler card?
Yes — Illinois requires food handler training within 30 days of hire for anyone who handles food for pay. Any ANAB-accredited online course qualifies. There is no state-issued card or Chicago-specific card — the training certificate from any accredited provider satisfies the requirement statewide.
How much does a Illinois food handler card cost?
Cost and validity depend on your course provider. See the pricing breakdown below.
Does Chicago require its own food handler card?
No. Chicago follows the same statewide Illinois requirement — an ANAB-accredited food handler training within 30 days of hire. There is no separate Chicago food handler card. The same training certificate that satisfies the state requirement satisfies the Chicago requirement.
Does Illinois also require a food manager certification?
Yes — but that’s a separate, facility-level certification. See our Illinois Food Manager Certification page for the details.
Is there a minimum age to get an Illinois food handler card?
Illinois’s food handler training law (410 ILCS 625) does not set a minimum age — the requirement applies to anyone “employed” as a food handler. In practice this tracks Illinois child labor law: workers aged 14–15 may work in food service with a permit and face the same 30-day training deadline as adults. Workers under 14 are generally not permitted to work in food service, so the training requirement would not apply to them.