Gary, IN Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

Section 10-301 of the Gary Municipal Code folds food safety review into the city's peddler and transient merchant licensing process. When a peddler or transient merchant application involves selling foodstuffs, the city controller forwards the file to the health department, which issues a retail food permit under sections 24-94 through 24-99. A separate retail food permit is required for each structure or vehicle a transient merchant operates, and the health department records the vehicle identification number and license plate on both the application and the permit.

Beyond the retail food permit, section 10-301(a)(5) requires that every individual peddler selling food, and every transient merchant and its employees who sell or handle food, carry a food handlers certificate issued by the health department; the health department notes that certificate directly on the license application. If the health department inspects the vehicle or structure and finds it does not comply with health requirements, the health commissioner endorses the disapproval on the application and returns it to the city controller, who then notifies the applicant that no permit and license will issue.

Zoning review runs alongside the health review: under section 10-301(b), the department of planning and zoning also reviews any application involving a temporary structure or vehicle to confirm adequate off-street parking and that the business will not interfere with street traffic. Only after both the health department and the zoning department sign off does the city controller complete the peddler or transient merchant license under article VII of chapter 10.