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

Mobile Food Service / Mobile Food Market Establishment Permit (Allen County Department of Health)

A food truck or other mobile food service or mobile food market unit operating anywhere in Allen County, Indiana needs a permit from the Health Commissioner under Allen County Code 10-2-2-1, and under 10-2-2-7(A) the permit lasts one year from issue and is renewed by the 15th of the anniversary month. A new unit pays the $280 New Establishment Plan Review, Application and Inspection Fee set in Allen County Code Title 10, Article 14 (Fees), Ord. No. 02-24-23-10 of February 24, 2023, effective April 1, 2023 (10-14-3-1-1(A)); the department's Annual Mobile Food Unit packet lists the same $280. That fee is in addition to the annual mobile permit fee; contact the Department of Health at (260) 449-7561 for the current annual amount. Where the county's zoning applies, Allen County Zoning Ordinance 3-4-3-4(a) makes a mobile food service unit a permitted use in the C2, NC, SC, C3, C4, I1, I2 and I3 districts and an accessory use to an institutional building in any district, on a site up to five times in twelve months for up to five days per event, with no limit in a public park during a festival or in a public right-of-way, and states that "No Improvement Location Permit or Certificate of Compliance shall be required." Under 3-4-3-4(b) a unit staying beyond those limits, for up to four months in twelve, needs an Improvement Location Permit or Site Plan Review. A unit inside a city or town follows that municipality's rules as well.

Temporary Food Service / Temporary Food Market Establishment Permit (Allen County Department of Health)

Selling or giving away food at a fair, festival or other short event in Allen County, Indiana calls for a temporary food service or temporary food market permit from the Allen County Department of Health. Under Allen County Code 10-2-2-7(B) the permit lasts no more than 14 consecutive days. As set in Allen County Code Title 10, Article 14 (Fees), Ord. No. 02-24-23-10 of February 24, 2023, effective April 1, 2023 (10-14-3-1-2(E)), the fee is $50 for every 48 consecutive hours of operation, and the department's Temporary Food Service application (Rev. 11-12-24) prices the same steps from $50 for one or two days to $350 for 13 or 14 days. Under 10-2-4-4(A) of the Food and Beverage Ordinance, a permittee who does not obtain the permit 24 business hours before the scheduled operation is charged a $50 penalty on top of the permit fee for the first violation, and each later violation adds a further $25; under 10-2-4-4(B) a $25 penalty applies to a permittee who does not arrive within one hour of its self-designated operating time, and no further permits are issued until penalties are paid. Department of Health: (260) 449-7561.

Certified Food Protection Manager

No state fee — Indiana recognises accredited exam providers rather than certifying anyone itself, and the price is theirs. Every food establishment must have at least one certified manager responsible for all its operating hours, though that person need not be present throughout. Certificates last five years and working on an expired one is prohibited outright, at up to fifty dollars a day. Indiana Code chapter 16-42-5.2 sets no general food handler card — the one statutory food handler certificate is the one section 16-42-5.3-7 requires of home based vendors — and section 16-42-5.2-1 bars a local health department from imposing any registration, certification or licensing requirement on food handlers or certified managers, so a city cannot invent its own. The exemptions are wide — no raw animal cooking, heat-and-serve only, continental breakfast, drinks and ice, low-hazard items, hospitals and certain food pantries.

Shared with other businesses in Allen County In

• Retail Food Establishment Permit — Indiana Department of Health, Food Protection Division, $300–$1,690 a year, set by the local health department — there is no state fee, annual. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.