What permits do you need to open a food truck in Sacramento County?

Special Business License

This license is required for a specific, named list of activities CONDUCTED in the unincorporated area of Sacramento County — 'even if the business is based outside the jurisdiction,' per the Department of Finance's own description. For the four industries covered here, the reaches are: food-truck for mobile food vending; salon only where massage services are offered; contractor only for home-repair or handyman work performed WITHOUT a California contractor's license (a state-licensed contractor performing licensed work is not in the trigger list); and auto-repair only for mobile auto-repair service. The license also covers housekeeping, landscaping/tree service, roadside service, taxi and escort services, repossession, private street patrol, hauling, and children's entertainment, among 'more than 20' categories the agency's own FAQ describes without publishing the full list. Under the Department of Finance's fees effective July 1, 2026, a new license costs $237.87 a year and a renewal $231.11 a year. Every owner, partner, and spouse of an applicant must be fingerprinted and photographed as part of the background-check process. The correct authority is Title 4, Chapter 4.10, under the same Title 4 structure documented for the General Business License above, not the erroneous 'Title 5' an earlier pass had used.

Temporary Food Facility Permit

A food-truck operator selling food at a fair, festival or other short-run event anywhere in Sacramento County, including inside any of the 7 incorporated cities, needs a temporary food facility permit rather than the annual Mobile Food Facility permit for that specific engagement, because EMD's Environmental Health Division administers this countywide program the same way it administers the permanent and mobile food permits above. The permit is issued under the California Retail Food Code's temporary-food-facility provisions and is priced within the same annually Board-approved Environmental Health Division fee schedule as those other permits, in a tier keyed to the event's length and the risk level of the food served, rather than as a flat statewide amount. A vendor who also holds an annual Mobile Food Facility permit still needs a separate temporary permit for a one-off event outside that unit's normal operating pattern. This is a countywide EMD program, the same scope pattern as the Retail Food Facility and Mobile Food Facility permits, not the unincorporated-only pattern that applies to the County's own business licenses.

Food Handler Card

The state does not sell the card and sets no fee of its own — it caps the market instead. At least one accredited course and examination must cost no more than $15 including the card, and if no course is available at that price the requirement does not apply at all. A handler has 30 days from hire to obtain one, it lasts three years, and it travels with the person rather than the employer. Since Senate Bill 476 the employer must treat the training and examination as paid working time, relieve the worker of other duties while they do it, reimburse the cost, and may not require a card as a condition of being hired. The exemptions are broad: grocery and convenience stores, school cafeterias, certified farmers' markets, licensed health care facilities, and any workplace covered by a collective bargaining agreement with its food handlers. Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties run their own card programmes under a pre-2009 carve-out and charge their own fees. Do not confuse this with the separate food safety MANAGER certification, which is one certified person per facility and lasts five years.

Shared with other businesses in Sacramento County

• CUPA / Hazardous Materials Business Plan (HMBP) Program — Sacramento County Environmental Management Department, Environmental Health Division, Hazardous Materials Low Risk Annual Fee $213; Hazardous Materials Disclosure Fee $616 (1-3 materials) up to $1,508 (10-15 materials), plus $179 per additional 5 materials; Hazardous Waste Generator Fee $375 (under 55 gallons) up to $1,238 (7,500-12,000 gallons); Tiered Permitting — Conditionally Exempt $301, Conditionally Authorized $917, Permit By Rule $917; Aboveground Storage Tank $227 (conditionally exempt) up to $1,424 (largest tier); Underground Storage Tank Operating Permit $2,283 (1 tank) up to $4,249 (10 tanks), Installation $8,661 and up (1 tank), Repair $2,714 (tank/piping) or $2,123 (spill containment); CalARP Program Level 1 Plan Review $2,456 / Annual Activity $1,990, rising to $6,105 annual at higher tiers., annual for HMBP, disclosure, generator, tiered-permitting and operating-permit fees; installation and repair fees are one-time per project. Also required for auto repair shops, restaurants and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Fire Systems Permit — Commercial Cooking (Hood & Duct) Suppression and LPG Tank Installation — Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, Community Risk Reduction Division, Hood & Duct Fire Suppression System plan review $1,278 per system; if the establishment uses LPG, a Commercial LPG Tank Installation permit of $798 also applies., one-time, per installation or alteration. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Mobile Food Facility (Food Truck) Permit — Sacramento County Environmental Management Department, Environmental Health Division, $195–$789 a year, by category: Category A (pre-packaged only) $195, Compact Mobile Food Operator $391, Category B (limited prep, e.g. coffee carts) $391, Mobile Food Support Unit $302, Category C (stationary, commissary-based) $466, Category D (full cooking, fully enclosed) $789; new-construction plan review $770 (schedule effective July 1, 2025), annual; every Mobile Food Facility permit expires December 31 regardless of issue date, and is non-transferable. Also required for coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Food Facility Permit — California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch, No fee, set by the local enforcement agency. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.