The Illinois Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act (410 ILCS 625) amended by SB1495, went into effect on July 1, 2014 and requires all food handlers in Illinois to receive training in basic food safety concepts from an ANAB-Accredited provider.

Food Handlers must complete a food safety training within 30 days of beginning of employment.

Food Handlers employed by restaurants must renew their training every 3 years. Food Handlers working for non-restaurants, however, are not subject to this requirement.

The Illinois Food Code defines restaurants as “any business primarily engaged in the sale of ready-to-eat food for consumption”, where “primarily engaged” means having sales of ready-to-eat-food for immediate consumption amounting to at least 51% of the total sales, excluding the sale of liquor.

Nursing homes, licensed day care facilities, hospitals, schools, long-term care facilities and retail food stores are considered non-restaurant establishments.

Food handlers working for restaurants are required to receive training from an ANAB-Accredited provider, such as Premier Food Safety. Food handlers working for non-restaurants are not required to get it from an ANAB-Accredited provider, but must still be able to provide proof of training upon request by the health department.

Online, computer, classroom, live trainings, remote trainers, and certified food service sanitation managers are all valid training options. Food handlers working in restaurants must receive their food handler training from a program approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Accreditation Board (ANAB). Training offered by approved local health departments, or businesses administering their own internal programs are also considered valid training options.

1. Purchase a training license through the website or by calling us
2. Complete the training and pass the 40-question test
3. Download and print your Food Handlers Card and certificate of completion

Food Handlers may print a certificate of completion upon receiving a score of at least 70% on the final exam.

No, the training is self-paced. You can start and review a few chapters, log out of your account, and resume the training at a different time. All your progress will be saved.

Establishments providing internal training programs approved in other states will be approved in Illinois. However, please keep in mind that food handler training is not transferable between employers in this case. This means that if you start working for a different establishment later on, you will be required to take a new food handler training.

Any food handler training program registered and approved by the Illinois Health Department will be considered valid for food handlers at non-restaurants.

• Restaurants - If you work for an establishment that falls under the restaurant category and receive your training from an ANAB-Accredited program, your training will still be valid if you start working for a different restaurant. However, if you are a food handler who initially received training from a restaurant offering an internal program, which was neither ANAB-accredited nor offered by a certified local health department, you will have to take the training again.
• Non-Restaurants - If you work for a non-restaurant establishment, then your training will not be transferable between employers. However, if you have previously received and currently hold a valid food handler accreditation issued by an ANAB-Accredited training provider, you will not need to take the training again.