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

Mobile Food Preparation Unit / Food Vehicle-Cart Permit

A food truck, cart or trailer operating anywhere in San Joaquin County, including inside any of the 8 incorporated cities, needs this countywide EHD permit before opening for business, under California Retail Food Code §114381's requirement that a mobile food facility hold a valid permit. The annual fee runs from $125 for a prepackaged-only Food Vehicle/Cart up to $270 for a full Mobile Food Preparation Unit, with a $197 middle tier for limited-preparation vehicles/carts, per the EHD Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027, and the permit renews on a calendar-year basis. A commissary agreement is required for any unit that prepares food rather than selling only prepackaged items (see the separate Commissary permit record).

Temporary Event / Temporary Incidental Food Permit

A food-truck operator or restaurant selling food at a fair, festival or other short-run event anywhere in San Joaquin County, including inside any of the 8 incorporated cities, needs this permit for that specific engagement rather than relying on an annual permit. The fee is $90 for Temporary Incidental Food or $179 for a full Temporary Event (minimum 1 hour), per the EHD Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027, within the same countywide EHD program that administers the permanent and mobile food permits above. An operator who already holds an annual Mobile Food Preparation Unit permit still needs this separate permit for a one-off event outside that unit's normal operating pattern.

Peddler License

A food-truck operator or retail seller going door-to-door or location-to-location within unincorporated San Joaquin County to sell goods on the spot needs a Peddler License under Ordinance Code No. 2334 §§7-1025–7-1036, issued by the Treasurer-Tax Collector. The fee is a non-refundable $180.00 for the 1-year term; unlike the Solicitor and Service License categories below, the application form conditions the $1,000 surety bond on holding 'a solicitor or service license,' so a Peddler License by itself does not carry that bond requirement. If the goods sold include edible items, an Environmental Health permit is additionally required, as referenced on the same application. Military honorable-discharge applicants receive a fee exemption, the same as for the business-license family above.

Commissary Permit (Food Truck/Vehicle-Cart)

A commissary base of operations that services a Mobile Food Preparation Unit or a food vehicle/cart in San Joaquin County, countywide including every incorporated city, is permitted separately from the mobile unit itself. The annual fee is $248 for a commissary servicing a vehicle/cart only and $358 for one servicing a full Mobile Food Preparation Unit with food preparation, per the EHD Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027. This permit works together with the Mobile Food Preparation Unit / Food Vehicle-Cart permit, since EHD requires an approved commissary agreement for any unit doing more than selling prepackaged food.

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 San Joaquin County

• 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.