Food Safety and Food Worker Card Renewal as CE

Adult Family Homes

Adult Family Home providers and their long-term care worker staff can choose to either maintain a current food worker card or to take 30 minutes of continuing education each year by reading the current Washington State Food and Beverage Workers' Manual, Food Safety is Everybody's Business. For more information about food handling requirements review related  RCW and WAC.

Adult Family Home Employer Responsibility for safe food handler Continuing Education:

• Be an approved training program authorized to offer Continuing Education.  Learn how to apply as a training program or add Continuing Education to an existing training program.
• Verify all long-term care workers review the current version of the Food Safety is Everybody's Business manual each year.
• Complete the required Food Handling and Food Safety Continuing Education certificate. This CE certificate is only valid for Adult Family Homes and may only be used for food handing Continuing Education credit.
• Give long-term care workers a completed Food Handling and Food Safety Continuing Education certificate.
• Keep a copy of this certificate with the other Continuing Education certificates required for that worker.

Assisted Living Facilities

Assisted Living Facility long-term care workers working as a “food service worker” (defined in WAC 246-217-010) must maintain a current food worker card. Long-term care workers handling a resident’s food must take appropriate training (as provided in WAC 246-217-015). The long-term care worker may satisfy the food handling duties’ training requirement by maintaining a current food worker card.

If the long-term care worker has a food worker card, during the year that the worker must renew their permit. The worker may apply one hour of Continuing Education credit for completing the required food safety training and test. The following restrictions apply:

• The food safety training and test (either classroom or online) must be taken through the local Washington State health department.
• The one hour of CE can only be used in the year the renewal was completed.

Assisted Living Facility Employer Responsibility for safe food handler Continuing Education:

• Keep a copy of the worker's renewed food worker card with the other CE certificates required for that worker.
• If the long-term care worker does not hold a valid food worker card, the employer must maintain documentation of training to be available for inspection by the health officer.