West New York, NJ Public Health Rules: Food Handler Certification (2026)

Article II of Chapter 207 is the Food Handler's Ordinance of the Town of West New York, adopted by the Board of Commissioners on 3-2-1983 as Ord. No. 1592. Section 207-8 bars anyone from engaging in or being employed in the preparation, cooking, packaging, curing, manufacturing or wrapping of exposed, unpackaged or otherwise unprocessed meat, poultry, vegetables, fruit, milk products and other food or drink without first obtaining the certificate on written application to the Department of Health. Section 207-7 defines a food handler to include mobile food vendors and peddlers, and defines food to include any drink or beverage intended for human consumption.

The certificate is not issued until the applicant completes a course in health education, sanitation, personal hygiene, food poisoning, dishwashing procedures, germs, insects, rodents and related health matters, given under the supervision of the Department of Health (§ 207-9). When enrollment is overcrowded, the Department can issue a provisional certificate, which is replaced by a permanent one once the course is passed. A provisional holder who skips the course named in a written notice loses the provisional certificate, though the holder can still take the next course offered. Under § 207-10, a comparable sanitation course from the state or another municipality counts only with prior written permission from the Department, and the person must still apply for the Town certificate.

Newly employed workers have 10 days from the start of employment to apply for the course and an additional 20 days to qualify for the certificate (§ 207-11). Certificates are renewed through the Department on or before April 1 of each calendar year, and the course is taken once, although the Board of Health can require supplemental lectures on a new topic as a condition of renewal (§ 207-12). Fees under § 207-16 are $10 on issuance, $10 for each annual renewal and $5 for a provisional certificate. Workers engaged solely in a governmental function or solely in a charitable, civic or political organization function pay nothing but must still qualify.

The certificate cannot be loaned or transferred. It must be displayed on a wall or other place of public notice in the premises, or on the cart or sales apparatus for mobile vendors, and produced on request of a police officer, Board of Health Inspector or other municipal officer (§ 207-13). Employers must keep a record for each employee with name, address, date of employment, and the date and number of the certificate, open to the Department at all times (§ 207-14).