Oak Park, IL Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

Section 20-6-1 requires every food service establishment in Oak Park to operate under the supervision of a manager or supervisor certified in food service sanitation, with a minimum of one certified person on staff at all times. New establishments have three months from their first day of operation to bring a certified employee on board, and an establishment that loses its certified staff through turnover gets another three months from the date of that loss to regain compliance. Certification is achieved by passing an examination monitored by the Illinois Department of Public Health or its representative, and the certificate must be kept on site at the place of business.

Section 20-6-2 specifies the exam must test knowledge of the microbiology of foodborne disease, food service law and rules, food storage, preparation and service, equipment design and construction, personal hygiene, cleaning and sanitizing procedures, and rodent and insect control; training programs to prepare candidates are made available statewide through cooperation with industry and universities. The Oak Park Department of Public Health will also recognize equivalent certificates issued by other Illinois or out-of-state local health departments if their standards are essentially equivalent to the state's. Section 20-6-3 allows the Department to revoke or suspend a certificate when the certified holder, or someone under that person's supervision, repeatedly fails to comply with the Village's food and food-establishment rules, though the holder is entitled to a hearing before the Board of Health before that suspension or revocation takes effect.