Lewisville, TX Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

Division 5 of Chapter 7, Article VII requires anyone whose job brings them into contact with food, utensils, or food-service equipment to hold a food handler's permit, and Sec. 7-247(b) forbids an owner or manager from letting an employee handle food without one for more than 45 days after hire. The owner or manager, not the employee, is responsible for paying the permit fee each year.

To earn a permit, an applicant must watch a city-provided training video, either at a pre-scheduled city class or, for a state-certified food protection manager, by borrowing or purchasing a copy from the city after paying a deposit, and then score 70 or higher on a basic knowledge test administered by the regulatory authority or, in the video-lending scenario, by the state-certified manager, who must submit the graded test and applicant's name to the city within 24 hours (Sec. 7-249(a)). An applicant who scores below 70 receives counseling before retaking the test.

The regulatory authority will not issue a permit to anyone suspected of being infected with a disease communicable through food, a carrier of such disease-causing organisms, or afflicted with a boil, infected wound, or acute respiratory infection; a medical rejection requires confirmation from a physician, and the regulatory authority must notify a rejected applicant in writing by certified mail (Sec. 7-249(b)-(c)). Sec. 7-248 exempts anyone holding a current, valid manager's certification from a state health department course from the underlying permit requirement in Sec. 7-247(a). Under Sec. 7-235(e)(3), an issued food handler's permit remains valid for 24 months from the date of issuance unless suspended or revoked sooner.