What permits do you need to open a food truck in Lexington Fayette?

Mobile Food Unit Local Registration

This is the LOCAL registration only, on top of the Kentucky statewide Mobile Food Unit permit recorded at the state layer. Operators must register their operating location with LFCHD at least 48 hours before setting up at any location within Fayette County; the Department may void a registration and order the unit removed from a location at its discretion.

Food Service Establishment Permit

The state sets the fee schedule by regulation but the money is paid to, and collected by, the local health department having jurisdiction — and most local departments add their own component on top, so the figure an operator actually owes is a state amount plus a local one. The state base is $125 a year, plus $75 to $215 by seating band, $155 for a drive-through window and $135 for a catering operation; a retail food store pays instead by square footage, from $90 up to $375; a statewide mobile food unit is $200 a year; a temporary establishment runs $60 to $125 depending on the length of the event, from a single day up to two weeks. Louisville Metro and Lexington-Fayette County both publish their local add-ons separately, and the two verified examples confirm the state components match the regulation exactly, so treat the state figures here as the floor and check the local health department for what is added.

Food Handler Card / Food Manager Certification (local, not state)

No state fee, because there is no statewide food handler card or mandatory food manager certification at all — a distinction easy to get wrong. The federal food code gives three separate ways for the person in charge to demonstrate knowledge, and Kentucky's regulation rewrites only one of them, the certification path; it does not turn certification into a standalone statewide mandate. Where a card or certificate is required, a local board of health made it so — Fayette County was the first, requiring certified food safety training since 1987, and today charges $23 for its food handler test and $85 for food manager certification, while Louisville Metro requires a certified food manager on duty at all times under its own ordinance, at $35 for a certificate valid three years. Check the local health department rather than assuming a state requirement.

Shared with other businesses in Lexington Fayette

• Food Handler Card / Food Manager Certification (local) — Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, Environmental Health, Food Handler card: $23 (in-person or online), a $2 copy fee for a replacement. Food Manager Certification: $85; a duplicate Food Manager certificate is $5; a $20 Food Manager Registry fee also applies., the Board of Health's Food Service Regulation requires the underlying food-safety exam to be retaken at least every three years; the Food Manager certification's own renewal cycle is not stated in the local regulation. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Temporary Food Service Establishment Permit — Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, Environmental Health, $60 for 1-3 days of operation; $90 for 4-7 days; $125 for 8-14 days. Waived for a nonprofit organization with documented 501(c)(3) status., one-time, per event, up to a maximum of 14 consecutive days at a single location under the Board of Health's Food Service Regulation. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.