What Is the California Retail Food Code (CalCode)?
CalCode is California’s own food-safety law — the reason a California kitchen doesn’t answer to the FDA Food Code like the rest of the country. Here’s what it is, the requirements it puts on a food facility, and the records it expects you to keep.
The definition
The California Retail Food Code (CalCode) is part of the California Health & Safety Code (beginning at §113700). It sets the health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities in California — restaurants, markets, mobile food, and more.
California is the only state that does not adopt the FDA Food Code; CalCode is its replacement. It’s written by the state, overseen by the California Department of Public Health, and enforced by county environmental health departments — so your inspector is the county, working from CalCode.
It’s based on current science for safe retail food handling, and it covers the same ground the FDA Food Code does — personnel, food handling, equipment, facilities — under California’s own statute, and, like the FDA Food Code, built on HACCP principles.
Facility sanitation includes the grease trap, backflow prevention, and pest control, each carrying its own service schedule and records.
The two requirements every California kitchen must meet
Food Handler Card
Every food handler must obtain a California Food Handler Card within 30 days of hire, by passing an accredited exam. The card is valid three years. It applies to most food-facility staff — cooks, servers, bartenders, bussers, and supervisors who handle food.
Certified Food Protection Manager
A facility that handles non-prepackaged, potentially hazardous food must have a Certified Food Protection Manager on staff, holding a passing score on an accredited exam renewed every five years. One CFPM cannot cover multiple facilities.
There are specific exemptions (temporary food facilities, certain grocery, school, and healthcare settings) — but for most commercial kitchens, both requirements apply.
The record CalCode requires you to keep
This is the part operators miss: CalCode doesn’t just require the cards — it requires the records. Under §113948(g), a food facility must maintain records showing each food handler holds a valid card, and provide those records to the local enforcement officer on request.
- 01A valid Food Handler Card on file for every handler, current within its three-year term.
- 02Proof of the facility’s Certified Food Protection Manager, renewed on its five-year cycle.
- 03All of it retrievable the moment the county inspector asks — not “we’ll find it.”
Where EvidLY fits
CalCode makes the recordkeeping the operator’s job — EvidLY makes it effortless. Every food handler card and manager certification is held, dated, and tracked against its renewal, so the records CalCode requires are current and produced on request in one place. Fire safety first, food safety alongside — the whole compliance picture, ready before the county inspector asks.
Book a Demo →Menu allergen disclosure (SB 68)
California is the first state in the country to require restaurants to disclose major food allergens on their menus. The Allergen Disclosure for Dining Experiences Act (SB 68) adds Section 114093.5 to the Health & Safety Code — part of the same code that governs CalCode.
A covered facility must provide written notification of the nine major allergens it knows or reasonably should know are in each menu item — milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame — either:
- 01Directly on the menu — a written statement below or immediately adjacent to each item, or
- 02In a digital format (which may include a QR code), with an accessible alternative such as an allergen chart for customers who can’t use the digital menu.
Local enforcement agencies verify compliance by visual inspection of menus. The obligation runs deeper than the menu itself — it depends on recipe control, vendor ingredient specs, and staff training staying accurate as menus change.
Where EvidLY fits
SB 68 is a standing obligation a covered kitchen has to keep current as menus, recipes, and vendors change. EvidLY tracks the compliance requirements that apply to your kitchen — flagging what a new California law like SB 68 adds to your list — so a requirement that took effect this year doesn’t get missed at inspection.
Edible food recovery and organic waste (SB 1383)
SB 1383, California’s Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction law, requires larger commercial food operations to recover the surplus edible food they’d otherwise throw away — and to keep the records that prove it. It’s administered by CalRecycle and enforced by local jurisdictions.
A covered generator must:
- 01Recover the maximum amount of edible surplus food that would otherwise be disposed.
- 02Arrange recovery through a written agreement with a food recovery organization or service.
- 03Maintain records of the food recovery — including each recovery organization it works with and the amount recovered — and provide them to the local jurisdiction on request.
The organic-waste side of SB 1383 also requires nearly all businesses to separate food scraps and food-soiled paper and subscribe to an organics collection service — but the recordkeeping duty above is what an operator most often can’t produce at inspection.
Where EvidLY fits
SB 1383 makes the food-recovery records the operator’s responsibility — the written agreement and the recovery log, available to the jurisdiction on request. EvidLY holds those records alongside the rest of your compliance picture, dated and ready, so the answer is there before the jurisdiction asks. Fire safety first, food safety alongside.
Book a Demo →CalCode vs. the FDA Food Code.
Every other state adopts a version of the national FDA Food Code; California uses CalCode instead. Same goal, different statute and enforcement structure.
What is the FDA Food Code? →CalCode — FAQ
What is CalCode?
The California Retail Food Code — California’s own food-safety law, part of the California Health & Safety Code. It sets the standards for retail food facilities and is enforced by county environmental health departments.
Does California follow the FDA Food Code?
No. California is the only state that does not adopt the FDA Food Code — it enforces CalCode instead. Every other state adopts some version of the FDA Food Code.
Do all food employees in California need a food handler card?
Most do — within 30 days of hire, valid for three years, with some exemptions (temporary facilities, certain grocery, school, and healthcare settings). Facilities handling potentially hazardous food also need a Certified Food Protection Manager.
What records does CalCode require a food facility to keep?
Under §113948(g), the facility must maintain records showing each food handler holds a valid card and provide them to the local enforcement officer on request.
Ready to see it?
Book a 30-minute demo and see how EvidLY keeps every fire and food safety record ready — before anyone asks.
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