The Minneapolis Health Department offers two food handler training courses.

• Trainings take about 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.
• These are basic food safety training for food handlers. They are not Certified Food Protection Manager trainings.

In this section

• What to know
• Allergen awareness training
• Food safety trainings
• Free voucher codes
• Food workers outside Minneapolis

Other trainings and certification

• Free event food safety training
• Certified Food Protection Manager
• K-12 food safety training

Free for Minneapolis food businesses

Our food allergen awareness training is for all food workers. 

The training includes information on:

• Top food allergens
  See food allergens
• Identifying and preventing cross-contact risks
• Controlling allergens when preparing dishes
• How to communicate about allergens
• Recognizing and knowing what to do if a customer has an allergic reaction

The food allergen training is available in English and Spanish.

Get free voucher codes

Who should take the training

The food safety trainings are valuable for: 

• Kitchen workers
• Servers and other front of house staff
• Volunteers serving food at events

We award a food handler certificate and card to every person who successfully completes any training.

Two trainings

You can choose from two trainings:

• Food Handler Level 1
• Food Handler Level 2

The same topics are taught in both trainings. Food Handler Level 2 is the most in-depth training.  

The trainings and tests are available online anytime. Visit Food safety training for Minneapolis

Training topics

Training topics include:

• Keeping food safe
• Temperature danger zone
• Hot and cold holding
• Avoiding cross-contamination
• Cleaning and sanitizing
• Personal hygiene

Food Handler Level 1

• Ideal for people who:
  • Need to know basic food safety
  • Have a visual learning style
  • Have special learning needs
• Takes 30 to 45 minutes to complete
• Available in English
• Divided into five sections, each with a short test. You must answer all the questions correctly to move to the next section. You can take each test an unlimited number of times. 

Food Handler Level 2

• Ideal for staff who would like a more in-depth training.
• Takes 60 to 90 minutes to complete
• Available in these languages:
  • English
  • Spanish
  • Korean
  • Mandarin Chinese
  • Vietnamese
  • Tagalog
  • Serbo-Croatian
  • American Sign Language (ASL)
• To receive the course certificate, you must pass a 30-question test with at least 21 correct answers. You can take the test twice.

Request voucher codes

Minneapolis licensed food businesses and vendors at Minneapolis events and farmers markets can request free voucher codes for their staff. 

Request voucher codes for allergen awareness and food safety trainings.

Using a voucher code

To begin a food handler training:

• Visit Food Safety Training for Minneapolis
• Turn off your browser's pop-up blocker.
• Enter your voucher code in the Redeem Voucher box.
• Follow the prompts on your screen.
• You can save the training at any time and return to it later.

Setting up your account

To use your voucher code, set up an account. 

When you are asked to enter personal information, you only need to enter your name. Your name will be printed on your certificate of completion.  

You do not need to enter any other personal information. You can put an "x" in the other fields such as birthdate or address. 

Follow the screen prompts to finish setting up your account. 

Food workers outside Minneapolis can take food handler training. The cost is $20 per course. We accept the following forms of payment:

• Credit cards
• Debit cards
• Prepaid debit cards

Visit Food safety training for Minneapolis