Illinois Food Handlers Card: Requirements, Cost & How to Get One (2026)

Requirements verified July 17, 2026 against Illinois General Assembly

Illinois requires all food handlers to complete training within 30 days of employment under the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act (410 ILCS 625/3.06). Restaurant workers need an ANSI/ANAB-accredited course, renewed every 3 years, and the law guarantees at least one approved option costs $15 or less.

Illinois wrote its food handler rule directly into state law: the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act (410 ILCS 625/3.06) requires everyone who handles unpackaged food, utensils, or food-contact surfaces to complete training within 30 days of starting work. If you work in a restaurant, the course must be ANSI/ANAB-accredited, your certificate is good for 3 years, and it travels with you to any restaurant job in the state. The legislature even built in a price cap of sorts — the law requires that at least one approved option cost $15 or less, which is why Illinois courses stay cheap.

Two wrinkles are worth knowing. First, non-restaurant food service workers (school cafeterias, hospitals, care facilities) also need training, but their certificates are tied to the employer where they trained — change jobs and you retrain. Second, Chicago: handler training there follows the same statewide rule, but the Chicago Department of Public Health keeps its own city-issued Food Service Sanitation Manager Certificate for managers, separate from the state's CFPM framework (reciprocity is available for ANSI-certified managers). For a line worker anywhere in Illinois, though, the path is the same: one accredited course, about 2 hours, done.

Who needs a food handler training certificate in Illinois?

Anyone who works with unpackaged food, food equipment or utensils, or food-contact surfaces in Illinois — kitchen staff, servers, bartenders, dishwashers. Exempt: holders of a valid Certified Food Protection Manager certificate and unpaid volunteers. Restaurant employees must use an ANSI/ANAB-accredited course; workers in non-restaurant food service (schools, hospitals, care facilities) also need training, but their certificates only count for the employer where they trained.

How to get your Illinois food handler training certificate

1. Pick an ANSI/ANAB-accredited food handler course — that's the standard IDPH requires for restaurant workers, and any of the accredited providers listed on this page qualifies statewide, Chicago included.
2. Complete the training within 30 days of your start date. Online courses take about 2 hours and cover handwashing, cross-contamination, allergens, and time and temperature control.
3. Pass the assessment and download your certificate. Expect to pay $7–$15 — Illinois law requires at least one option at $15 or under, so never overpay.
4. Give a copy to your employer, who keeps training records available for local health department inspectors.
5. Retrain every 3 years. Restaurant certificates transfer to any Illinois restaurant employer until they expire; non-restaurant certificates require retraining when you change employers.
6. Moving up to management? A Certified Food Protection Manager credential (5-year, exam-based) replaces the handler certificate entirely — and in Chicago, it's your route to the city's sanitation manager certificate by reciprocity.

Which courses count: Restaurant food handlers must complete a course accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) under the ASTM E2659 certificate program standard. Non-restaurant food service employees may train through ANAB courses or IDPH-approved internal programs, but those certificates are employer-specific.

Approved training options

Requirements are the same statewide — no Illinois county or city has its own separate food handler card rules.

Cost and renewal

You pay only the course provider — there is no state fee. The statute itself requires that at least one approved training option be available for $15 or less, and in practice most ANAB-accredited online courses run $7–$15.

Restaurant food handler certificates are valid for 3 years, transfer with you between employers, and are recognized statewide. Renewal simply means taking an accredited course again. Non-restaurant certificates follow the same training cycle but do not transfer — a new employer means new training.

Do Illinois establishments also need a certified food manager?

Yes. Under the Illinois Food Code (which adopts the 2022 FDA Model Food Code), the person in charge must be a Certified Food Protection Manager, and Risk Category I and II establishments must have a CFPM present during all hours of operation. CFPM certification comes from an ANSI/CFP-accredited exam and is valid 5 years. Chicago layers its own city-issued Food Service Sanitation Manager Certificate on top, obtainable by reciprocity with an ANSI-accredited CFPM credential.

If you're aiming for a supervisor role, see our guide to food manager certification — it's a different credential with a proctored exam and higher pay potential.

Not sure what applies to you? Use the requirements checker or read how to get a food handlers card for the general process.

Illinois food handler card FAQ