{"id":5308,"date":"2024-03-26T15:02:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T19:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/?page_id=5308"},"modified":"2026-03-10T15:25:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:25:39","slug":"certified-food-manager-guidelines","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Safety Manager Certification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Environmental Health Specialists (EHS) will ask for and validate that the establishment has a currently certified manager on staff by checking the exam certificate. We will check to make sure the exam certificate has be issued by one of the accredited sources noted below and it has not expired.\u00a0 It is considered current for 5 years from the date the certificate was issued.\u00a0 The EHS will continue to focus our inspection on ensuring that the establishment is under\u00a0active managerial control<\/a><\/span><\/span>, and that all staff are trained in food safety.<\/p>\n

Are there exceptions to the requirement for a Foodsafety Manager Certification?
\n<\/strong><\/span>A Certified Food Protection Manager is not required for food establishments that have non-TCS foods and\/or do no food preparation or handling.<\/p>\n

How do you become certified?
\n<\/strong><\/span>To become a Certified Food Protection Manager, you must take and pass an accredited exam. A list of accredited exams is listed below. During your inspection, the Manager on duty will be asked to provide evidence that one of the current managers have taken and passed an accredited exam. The Person in Charge will also be asked food safety questions based on this credential.<\/p>\n

What exams are accredited?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For a full listing of organizations delivering these exams that are recognized by the American National Accrediting Board through the Conference for Food Protection (ANAB\/CFP) and approved by the FDA \u2013ANAB – ANSI National Accreditation Board<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Please note: certificates issued by previously accredited organizations are valid until the expiration date on the certificate.<\/p>\n

How do I prepare to take the exam?
\n<\/strong><\/span>Some of the organizations that offer exam preparation courses is provided below. An accredited exam is often offered upon completion of these courses. You will need to contact the vendors for details.<\/p>\n

The Health Department encourages managers to take a course prior to taking an exam, but a course is not required to take the exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Name<\/strong><\/span><\/th>\nContact Information<\/strong><\/span><\/th>\nCourses and Languages Offered<\/strong><\/span><\/th>\nExams\u00a0and Languages Offered<\/strong><\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1 AAA Food Manager<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n714-592-4100<\/td>\nOn-line: English, Spanish<\/td>\nEnglish, Spanish<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Always Food Safe Company<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n—<\/td>\nOn-line: English<\/td>\nEnglish, Spanish<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SafeMark\/Food Marketing Institute<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n202-220-0661<\/td>\nEnglish, Spanish<\/td>\nEnglish, Spanish<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ORS Interactive<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n703-533-7600<\/td>\nEnglish, Spanish<\/td>\nEnglish, Spanish<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Premier Food Safety<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n800-676-3121<\/td>\nIn-person: English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese<\/p>\n

On-line: English<\/td>\n

English, Spanish, Chinese, French Canadian, Japanese,\u00a0 Korean<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Restaurant Association of Metro Washington<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n202-331-5990<\/td>\nEnglish<\/td>\nEnglish, Spanish, Chinese, French Canadian, Japanese, Korean<\/p>\n

Large Print<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Virginia Restaurant, Lodging, and Travel Association<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n804-288-3065<\/td>\nEnglish<\/td>\nEnglish<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
Are there any Manager Certification courses\/exams offered locally? <\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
Local Courses Sponsored by Virginia Cooperative Extension\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Environmental Health Specialists (EHS) will ask for and validate that the establishment has a currently certified manager on staff by checking the exam certificate. We will check to make sure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5308","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nFood Safety Manager Certification - Blue Ridge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Food Safety Manager Certification - Blue Ridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Environmental Health Specialists (EHS) will ask for and validate that the establishment has a currently certified manager on staff by checking the exam certificate. We will check to make sure […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Ridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T19:25:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\\\/\",\"name\":\"Food Safety Manager Certification - Blue Ridge\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-26T19:02:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T19:25:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Food Safety Manager Certification\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Ridge\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/blue-ridge\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Food Safety Manager Certification - Blue Ridge","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Food Safety Manager Certification - Blue Ridge","og_description":"Environmental Health Specialists (EHS) will ask for and validate that the establishment has a currently certified manager on staff by checking the exam certificate. We will check to make sure […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/","og_site_name":"Blue Ridge","article_modified_time":"2026-03-10T19:25:39+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/","name":"Food Safety Manager Certification - Blue Ridge","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-03-26T19:02:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-10T19:25:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/certified-food-manager-guidelines\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Food Safety Manager Certification"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/","name":"Blue Ridge","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5308"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9125,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5308\/revisions\/9125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}