San Marcos, CA Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

670 requires every food handler to hold one of two credentials before working. 680. 700, except that a new employee may work under such supervision for up to ten calendar days without yet having the card. 680 requires the training certificate applicant to complete a food sanitation course of at least three hours, taught by a Health Officer-approved instructor with Health Officer-approved content, and pass a proficiency test with at least a 70 percent grade; the certificate is valid for three years. 690 sets a higher bar for the food service manager certificate: a 16-hour course, an 85 percent test score is required instead for applicants relying on academic and work-experience substitutes (such as a bachelor's degree plus two years' experience, or six years of occupational experience with only a high school diploma), and the manager certificate never expires by passage of time.

700 lets a certified food service manager issue food handler cards directly to supervised employees who pass a 70 percent test on sanitary food practices; that card is valid for three years or until employment ends, whichever comes first. 730 separately bar anyone with a health-officer-determined transmissible disease from working as a food handler and authorize medical exclusion or closure when transmission risk is found.