Haverford, PA Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

Haverford Township does not write its own training curriculum. Section 91-9 of the Haverford Township Code, part of Chapter 91 (Food and Drink, adopted 11-14-2011 by Ord. No. 2646), provides that the Food Employee Certification Act, 3 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6501 through 6510, governs the food protection provisions in the chapter, and it assigns enforcement to the Department of Health and its Health Officer. Section 91-2 also adopts the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Title 7, Chapters 46, 57 and 65, as amended from time to time, into the chapter as if fully set out.

The certification rule sits on top of a licensing system. Under § 91-4 it is unlawful for any proprietor to operate a food establishment within Haverford Township without a license issued by the Department. The definition in § 91-3 is broad: restaurants, coffee shops, cafeterias, taverns, food stands, private clubs, hospital and school kitchens, groceries, markets, convenience stores and vehicles where food is served, sold, handled or prepared, though group homes and private homes are excluded. Licenses are valid for one calendar year, must be conspicuously displayed, cannot be transferred, and renewal applications are due 30 days before expiration. Fees are set by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.

Employee health is handled separately in § 91-8. No employee with a communicable disease, or a carrier, can work in any capacity that touches food or equipment, and no proprietor can employ such a person. Workers with discharging or infected wounds, sores or lesions on exposed skin are kept off operations that bring them into contact with food, beverages, utensils or equipment. The Department can require exclusion, restricted duties or medical examinations, can close an establishment when there is danger of a food-borne disease outbreak with a physician's concurrence, and can require employees to be tested.

Inspection access matters. Under § 91-7 the Department conducts periodic inspections, and a license is immediately suspended if a representative with proper identification is denied entry. Entry denied for seven or more consecutive days exposes the license to revocation, and a licensee aggrieved by a suspension or revocation can appeal to the Board of Commissioners by written notice to the Township Manager within 30 days under § 91-5.