Alaska requires a Food Handler Card. Every figure below is verified against the official source and dated.

What it’s called

Alaska requires a Food Handler Card — a training card, not a license. “Food handler license,” “food handlers permit,” “food safety certificate” and “food workers card” are common informal names for the same card. It is not the food-MANAGER credential: a Certified Food Protection Manager (often earned through ServSafe Manager) is a separate, higher certification for one supervisor per establishment. Alaska’s card is issued by the Department of Environmental Conservation; the Municipality of Anchorage runs its own separate card program.

Quick facts

  • Requirement level: State-mandated
  • Valid for: 3 years
  • Cost: $10 application fee, set by the State (18 AAC 31.050(v)); the Municipality of Anchorage card also costs $10. Government-administered exam/card, so there is no separate private-provider pricing.
  • Who needs it & when: Any “food worker” — anyone working with unpackaged food, potentially hazardous food, or food-contact surfaces (chefs, cooks, servers, bartenders, meat cutters, food counter workers, dishwashers) — must obtain a food worker card within 30 days of the date of hire (18 AAC 31.330). Not required for people who only greet/seat customers, process payment, work solely with pre-packaged food (cashiers, baggers, delivery drivers, stockers), assist patients/residents with meals, children under 18 assisting with school meal service, or volunteers.
  • Who issues it: Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Division of Environmental Health, Food Safety & Sanitation Program (state-issued card/exam). Within the Municipality of Anchorage, the Anchorage Health Department runs its own separate food worker card program.

Who does NOT need this — exemptions

Alaska exempts food workers both by ROLE and by FACILITY.

BY ROLE — the Alaska DEC food worker card program page (“Food Worker Card is Not Required”) states a card is not needed if the role does not involve unpackaged or potentially hazardous food or food-contact surfaces, and gives these examples: greeting or seating customers; processing payment for food or other purchases; working only with pre-packaged food (cashiers, grocery baggers, delivery drivers, warehouse workers, shelf stockers); assisting patients or residents with their meals at a hospital, assisted living home, or rehabilitation center; children under 18 assisting with school meal service in a school kitchen; and volunteer activities.

CREDENTIAL THAT DISPLACES THE CARD — DEC states plainly: “A food worker card is not required for those who have a current, valid Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) certificate” (18 AAC 31.325). Holding the manager credential therefore removes the handler-card duty; you do not need both.

BY ACTIVITY AND FACILITY — 18 AAC 31.012 (“Exempt activities and facilities”; current text — former subsection (a) repealed 5/11/2025, Register 254) makes whole categories “not subject to this chapter,” and because the card mandate lives in that same chapter (18 AAC 31.330), no food worker card is required for them.

Exempt ACTIVITIES (18 AAC 31.012(b)): the sale, extraction, or packaging of raw honey; custom processing of an individual’s sport-caught seafood or game meat (except 18 AAC 34 smoking/thermal processing of seafood); the packaging and sale of raw, whole vegetables, herbs, microgreens, and fruit offered in their natural state or after rinsing, trimming of unnecessary parts, or separating greens from roots; the harvesting and evaporation of tree sap (further processing for wholesale distribution is covered); the harvesting or cleaving of glacier ice exported from the state without further processing; and the preparation and serving of food at a licensed foster home or foster group home, food at a licensed child care home or child care group home, snacks at a licensed child care facility, food at an assisted living home with five or fewer residents, and food at a camp set up for no more than 14 days at a single location to support a group of 24 individuals or less.

Exempt FACILITIES AND EVENTS (18 AAC 31.012(c)): a business (including a gas station, gift shop, video store, student store, or packaged liquor store) that sells only prepackaged non-potentially-hazardous food, fresh uncut and unpeeled fruit or vegetables, popcorn (including seasoned or caramel popcorn), cotton candy, prepackaged ice cream novelties, non-potentially-hazardous beverages prepackaged or dispensed directly from commercial containers or into single-service containers, or coffee and tea with creamers and single-service items; a restricted food service transient occupancy establishment; a vending machine dispensing only non-potentially-hazardous food; a family-operated business that employs only family members, prepares and serves food only to those family members, and does not serve food to the public; social events where food is prepared or provided by or for members of an organization, association or club, a church or other religious congregation, a neighborhood/community/family/office gathering such as a party, picnic or potluck, or a traditional Native potlatch, and that group’s invited guests; an event advertised to the general public whose primary purpose is to raise money for a political campaign or one individual’s medical or other personal needs, if the food is cooked and immediately served, the event lasts no more than one day, and no more than three such events are held in a 90-day period; a public open house where ready-to-eat, commercially processed appetizers are offered for self-service (subject to handwashing-facility and hot/cold-holding temperature conditions); a temporary food service lasting one day or less serving pre-cooked, packaged, ready-to-eat, or commercially processed foods requiring no more than limited preparation and minimal handling (subject to the same handwashing and temperature conditions); a bake sale — defined as the occasional sale to the public by an organization at a fundraising or seasonal event (including a fair or bazaar) of bakery-type items such as fruit or berry pies and cobblers, cakes, cookies, pastries, and breads (items with potentially hazardous fillings or toppings such as custard, whipped cream, or meringue must be kept refrigerated at 41°F or below, and potentially hazardous foods such as sandwiches, stuffed breads, meat pies, and pizza may not be sold at a bake sale); and a food establishment located within a national park, federal military installation, public health service hospital, or other federal facility where inspections and regulatory oversight are provided by the federal government.

PARTIAL EXEMPTIONS — read these carefully, they cut both ways. Under 18 AAC 31.012(d), a food service with a maximum capacity of 12 that serves 12 or fewer individuals per day, and under (f), a business manufacturing ice for onsite retail sale, are — if the subsection’s conditions are met — subject only to 18 AAC 31.900, 31.905, and 31.915, not to the card provisions. BUT under (e), a food service serving 24 or fewer individuals each day AT A CAMP remains subject to 18 AAC 31.050 and 18 AAC 31.320–31.330 — the food worker card provisions — so workers at an ongoing camp food service still need cards; only the short-term camp in (b)(6)(E) (set up no more than 14 days at a single location, group of 24 or less) is outside the chapter entirely. And under (g), an exemption from this chapter does not relieve the operator from other applicable statutes and regulations.

NOT AN EXEMPTION — working in the Municipality of Anchorage does not exempt you: MOA runs its own food worker card program and does not accept State-issued cards, so an MOA card is required instead (see county_exceptions).

Sources: 18 AAC 31.012 and 18 AAC 31.330, Alaska Food Code (DEC official PDF, as amended through May 11, 2025, Register 254); current 18 AAC 31.012 text re-read in full 2026-07-23 from the Alaska State Legislature’s Administrative Code publication (akleg.gov BASIS); Alaska DEC “Food Worker Cards” program page.

Approved training providers

Card and exam are issued directly by the government, not by private accredited providers. The State DEC administers the food worker card examination itself (18 AAC 31.330: “an examination conducted by the department”) and issues the card. Within the Municipality of Anchorage, the Anchorage Health Department issues its own food worker card and does NOT accept State-issued cards. There is no ANSI/private-accredited-provider regime for the Alaska handler card.

County exceptions

Municipality of Anchorage: runs its own food worker card program and does NOT accept State-issued food worker cards. Workers in MOA-regulated facilities must hold an Anchorage-issued card (also $10, valid 3 years). Anchorage is the only Alaska jurisdiction with a separate program; everywhere else the State DEC card applies.