Warren, MI Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

Sec. 14-23, part of Chapter 14's restaurant sanitation article, sets two overlapping requirements. First, it flatly bars employing anyone affected with, or a carrier of, any infectious disease in a communicable form to handle food or food utensils in a restaurant or itinerant restaurant. Second, every restaurant must obtain a food handlers permit for each employee who handles food or utensils, and the employee must file that permit with the employer before starting work. The health officer cannot issue the permit until the applicant has been examined by a duly licensed physician, who reports findings on a form the health officer prescribes.

No permit is valid for more than one year, and renewal requires another medical examination. The health officer can revoke a permit at any time the holder would no longer qualify for a new one, and refusing a requested re-examination, for good cause, is itself grounds for revocation. The permit requirement sits alongside Sec. 14-24, which obligates both licensees and employees to report suspected infectious, contagious, or communicable disease, including a cough or skin eruption lasting more than 14 days, to the health officer immediately, and Sec.

14-22, which requires the health officer to inspect every restaurant at least once every six months. Sec. 14-25 lets the health officer suspend a restaurant's license for noncompliance found on inspection, with the license automatically revoked after 10 days unless the licensee applies for reinstatement and a follow-up inspection confirms the problem is fixed.