In Pennsylvania, you are not required to have a food handlers permit to be a restaurant employee.
What Pennsylvania does require though, is that at least one person in an establishment receives a Food Manager’s Certificate.
The state of Pennsylvania believes that by certifying one individual to be a food manager that that person will be able to train the other employees in the restaurant in food safety.
Although you may not be required to receive a food handlers permit in or a food manager’s certificate in Pennsylvania, it may still be in your best interest to do so.
Pennsylvania Food Managers Certification
Pennsylvania requires licensed retail food facilities to have at least one certified food manager on staff. A Pennsylvania Certified Food Manager is the person in charge when present at the establishment.
Pennsylvania currently accepts National ANSI Certified Food Manager programs.
The current approved list is below (in no particular order):
- 360Training.com, Inc.
- AboveTraining/StateFoodSafety.com
- National Registry of Food Safety Professionals
- National Restaurant Association
- Prometrics Inc.
- Always Food Safe
You can also find a list of approved training courses by county here.
For more information, please visit the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture here.