New Brunswick, NJ Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)
Key Facts
- Who must be certified
- One or more supervisory personnel per establishment
- Renewal
- At least once every three years
- Course approval
- State department of health
- Covered establishments
- Fixed, temporary and mobile retail food establishments
- Top penalty (temporary or mobile)
- $750.00 and up to five days
- Governing section
- § 8.04.030
Summary
In the City of New Brunswick, New Jersey, no retail food establishment, fixed, temporary or mobile, may serve potentially hazardous food unless one or more supervisory personnel are certified in food safety and sanitation at least once every three years. The course must be approved by the state department of health. Chapter 8.04 sets fines up to $750.00 for temporary and mobile vendors.
A.No retail food establishment, fixed, temporary, or mobile, shall serve potentially hazardous food products within the city unless and until one or more supervisory personnel are certified in food safety and sanitation at least once every three years through a course of instruction approved by the state department of health. ... A.The owner, operator, or person in immediate charge of temporary or mobile retail food establishment who is unable, upon request of an authorized sanitary inspector, to reasonably and satisfactorily establish attendance and successful completion of an approved food handlers training program, as defined herein, is, upon a finding of guilt, subject to a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00). Upon a second conviction, the defendant is subject to a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00). Upon a third or subsequent conviction the defendant is subject to a fine not to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00) and imprisonment for a term not to exceed five days.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 8.04 of the New Brunswick Municipal Code, titled Retail Food Handling Training Regulation, sets the city's certification rule. An editor's note records that Ordinance O-051102, adopted May 18, 2011, renamed the chapter from its earlier title, certification to serve potentially hazardous food at retail. Section 8.04.010 describes the chapter as a regulation providing for the handling of potentially hazardous food at retail, temporary retail and mobile retail food establishments.
The certification duty sits in § 8.04.030(A). A retail food establishment, whether fixed, temporary or mobile, cannot serve potentially hazardous food products within the city until one or more of its supervisory personnel are certified in food safety and sanitation. Certification must be renewed at least once every three years and must come through a course of instruction approved by the state department of health. The duty attaches to supervisory personnel, not to every worker. Organizations or groups that hold periodic gatherings and meals should have a responsible officer of the group certified in food safety. Under subsection (B), the owner, operator or supervisory person in immediate charge must give proof of completion to the satisfaction of any authorized sanitary inspector who asks.
Coverage is broad. Section 8.04.020 defines a retail food establishment to include restaurants, coffee shops, cafeterias, taverns, bars, nightclubs, roadside stands, catering kitchens, commissaries, retail bakeries, meat markets, delicatessens and grocery stores. Temporary establishments operate at a fixed location for a temporary period in connection with a fair, carnival, circus, public exhibition or similar gathering, including church suppers and picnics. Mobile establishments include a truck, van, trailer, cart, bicycle or watercraft. Potentially hazardous food includes milk products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish and shellfish, but excludes foods with a pH level of 4.6 or below or a water activity value of 0.85 or less.
Enforcement runs two ways. Under § 8.04.030(C) the authorized sanitary inspector can file a summons and complaint in the name of the city, returnable before the municipal court, against any establishment that does not meet the rule. Section 8.04.031 adds a $50.00 re-inspection fee and a $75.00 initial plan review fee, payable to the Middlesex County Public Health Department within ten business days.
Violations & Fines
Under § 8.04.040, the owner, operator or person in immediate charge of a temporary or mobile retail food establishment who cannot establish, when an authorized sanitary inspector asks, that an approved food handlers training program was completed faces a fine not to exceed $250.00 on a finding of guilt. A second conviction carries a fine not to exceed $500.00. A third or subsequent conviction carries a fine not to exceed $750.00 and imprisonment for a term not to exceed five days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every employee in a New Brunswick restaurant need a food handler card?
How often must certification be renewed?
Do food trucks, carts and fair vendors need certification?
Are church suppers and community groups covered?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in New Brunswick
Compare New Brunswick to another location·View the New Jersey public health rules overview
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Food Handler Certification in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle food handler certification.