Vermont — statewide
Vermont Department of Health, Food and Lodging Program
In short
Vermont Department of Health, Food and Lodging Program issues 2 permits we publish for Vermont — statewide, last verified 2026-09-04. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Establishment License | Vermont Department of Health, Food and Lodging Program | $105–$1,000 a year for a restaurant, banded steeply by seating from 1–25 seats up to 600 or more | 1 year from the date of the opening inspection, not prorated | 2026-09-04 |
| Certified Food Protection Manageronly if it applies to you | Vermont Department of Health, Food and Lodging Program | No fee | not applicable — a CFPM credential is one of three optional paths, not a flat requirement | 2026-09-04 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Food Establishment License
The seating bands run wide: $105 for a restaurant with 25 seats or fewer, climbing through $180, $300, $385 and $450, and reaching $1,000 for anywhere with 600 seats or more. This is a state-issued license from the Commissioner of Health rather than a locally delegated one. Vermont's standard mechanism for local public-health authority, the town-by-town Town Health Officer, is confirmed not to reach food licensing: the Health Department's own 2024 Town Health Officer Manual lists ten statutory topic areas for the role — appointments; roles and responsibilities; public health hazards; enforcement tools; animal bites and rabies; infectious diseases; outdoor air quality; drinking water; lead paint; and asbestos — and food or restaurant establishments are not among them. Food licensing itself runs through the Department's own Food and Lodging Program and its regional 'local health offices,' which are branches of that same state agency rather than independent town bodies.
Certified Food Protection Manager
No fee, because Vermont does not flatly require this credential — its regulation lets the person in charge demonstrate the required food safety knowledge any of three ways: holding a certified food protection manager credential, complying with the food code generally, or simply answering an inspector's questions correctly. The state's own license application form carries an explicit checkbox for having no certified manager, confirming the credential is one valid option rather than a universal mandate.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Vermont — statewide
- Phone
- (802) 863-7221
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Vermont Department of Health — retail food establishment application, fee table by category, February 2024Vermont Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Vermont Department of Health — Town Health Officer Manual (2024 sections): the ten statutory topic areas for a Town Health Officer (appointments; roles and responsibilities; public health hazards; enforcement tools; animal bites and rabies; infectious diseases; outdoor air quality; drinking water; lead paint; asbestos), naming no food-establishment or restaurant-licensing roleVermont Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Vermont Health Regulations for Food Service Establishments — the three alternative paths to demonstrating food safety knowledgeVermont Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Other Vermont statewide offices
Vermont jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.