East Brunswick, NJ Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)
Key Facts
- First-year course
- Four hours, Township-offered or an approved equivalent
- Later years
- Two-hour course when new material is available
- Course fee
- $2 per course, four-hour and two-hour
- New employees
- Register within one month of employment
- License deadline
- Apply on or before July 1 of the licensing year
- Approving official
- Director of Health, Environment and Welfare
Summary
In East Brunswick Township, anyone who prepares or handles potentially hazardous food, cleans utensils and equipment, or directly manages day-to-day operations at a retail food establishment must apply for a license each licensing year and complete a four-hour food safety course. Each later year requires a two-hour refresher when new material is available. Each course costs two dollars.
A. Commencing July 1, 1974, no person responsible for the preparation or handling of potentially hazardous food or responsible for the cleaning of utensils and equipment, including management personnel directly responsible for overall day-to-day operations, shall be permitted to work in a retail food establishment unless he or she shall have applied for a license, on or before July 1 of the licensing year, and shall have completed within the licensing year a four-hour training course in "Safe Food Preparation, Storage and Service Practices," to be offered by the Township of East Brunswick, or its equivalent, as determined by the Director of Health, Environment and Welfare. Persons who have completed the course for the first licensing year are required to take a two-hour course in each succeeding year, provided that new material is available. ... B. Those persons employed subsequent to July 1, 1974, shall within one (1) month from the date of their employment register for the above-named course of instruction. ... D. A fee of two dollars ($2.) shall be charged to each person registering for the four-hour training course and two dollars ($2.) for the two-hour refresher course.
Full Breakdown
The training rule sits in Chapter 109, Article I (Retail Establishments) of the East Brunswick Township Code, at § 109-4. Article I adopts the Retail Food Establishment Code of New Jersey (1965) by reference in § 109-1 through § 109-3, and § 109-4 adds a Township-specific layer on top: the worker, not only the premises, has to be trained.
Who is covered: any person responsible for the preparation or handling of potentially hazardous food, any person responsible for the cleaning of utensils and equipment, and management personnel directly responsible for overall day-to-day operations. Subsection C defines potentially hazardous food as any perishable food made in whole or in part of milk or milk products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish or other ingredients capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms.
What is required: the worker applies for a license on or before July 1 of the licensing year and completes, within that licensing year, a four-hour training course titled "Safe Food Preparation, Storage and Service Practices." The Township of East Brunswick offers the course, and an equivalent course counts if the Director of Health, Environment and Welfare determines it is equivalent. In each succeeding year the worker takes a two-hour course, provided that new material is available.
New hires: a person employed after July 1, 1974 must register for the course within one month from the date of employment.
Cost: § 109-4(D) charges two dollars to each person registering for the four-hour course and two dollars for the two-hour refresher.
Related establishment rules in the same article: licenses issued under Article I expire annually on June 30 (§ 109-7), a license issued between January 1 and June 30 is available at half the usual fee, and the Director of the Department of Health, Environment and Welfare or a representative conducts inspections under § 109-8.
Violations & Fines
Section 109-4 prints no fine of its own. Enforcement runs through § 109-8, where the Director of Health, Environment and Welfare can, instead of prosecuting a licensee for violations of the State Sanitary Code, serve an order to discontinue or abate the violation within a reasonable time. The person served has the right to be heard in person or by attorney. Each reinspection after a conditional or unsatisfactory rating costs one hundred dollars.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the East Brunswick food safety course?
Who in a restaurant or store has to take it in East Brunswick Township?
What does a new hire do under § 109-4(B)?
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in East Brunswick
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