Kern County, CA Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

59 of the Kern County Ordinance Code, adopted by Ordinance G-8612 in 2015, lets the director of public health services or a designee order a food facility's staff into mandatory food safety education when the facility poses a documented risk. 020, the director can trigger the requirement for any of three reasons: the facility has repeated violations of critical risk factors affecting food safety; the owner or a certified employee has failed to make sure staff handling unpackaged food understand how to safely prepare and serve it; or the department has had to close the facility or take other action because of poor decision-making by the operator or manager.

020 also requires. 040 spells out six mandatory course topics: causes and contributing factors of foodborne illness; the relationship between time, temperature and foodborne illness; personal hygiene and food safety; methods to prevent contamination at every handling stage; cleaning and sanitizing procedures for equipment and utensils; and proper decision-making for emergencies such as power outages, sewage spills, or rodent and roach infestations. 050 then requires every attendee to pass a competency exam with at least 75% accuracy; failing the first time means retaking the course, and failing a second time suspends the facility's health permit until someone demonstrates 75% accuracy or the department approves a written plan removing the employee from food handling.