# What licenses does a food business need? **Direct answer:** A food business typically needs a health permit from the city or county health department, a food handler or food manager certification for staff, a general business license, a seller's permit for taxable sales, and, for mobile vendors, a separate mobile food facility permit for the truck or cart plus approval of its commissary kitchen. Food licensing is local first: the health department that inspects the kitchen issues the permit that matters most, and no state filing substitutes for it. The stack around it, business license, seller's permit, alcohol license where drinks are served, follows the standard layers. ## The health permit is the core license Every fixed food establishment, restaurant, cafe, commissary, grocery deli, needs a food establishment permit from the local health authority, issued after plan review for new construction and an opening inspection, and maintained through unannounced inspections. The permit attaches to the operator and the premises: new owner, new permit. This is a local permit by design; the inspector who walks the kitchen is the authority. ## People need credentials too Most jurisdictions require a certified food protection manager on staff, a certification earned through an accredited exam, and many require food handler cards for line employees within a set period after hire. These are individual credentials, inexpensive and quick, but an inspection can fail without them. ## Food trucks carry a doubled stack A mobile food business needs everything a restaurant needs plus the mobile layer: a mobile food facility permit for the vehicle, health inspection of the truck itself, an approved commissary where the truck is serviced and stocked, and often separate vending permissions per city or per event. A truck that works three cities can hold three local permits. Fire permits apply where there is onboard cooking. ## Cottage food is the narrow exception Most states have cottage food laws letting home producers sell specific low-risk foods, baked goods, jams, dry mixes, without a commercial kitchen, subject to labeling rules, sales caps, and sometimes registration or a home kitchen inspection. The permitted product lists are strict, and selling outside them puts the operator back under full food establishment rules. ## Where Cornerstone fits We handle the state-level pieces of the stack: business registrations, seller's permits, and alcohol licensing where a food business serves drinks, coordinated across every state a multi-unit operator works in. The health permit and its inspections are issued by the local health department to the operator, and no filing service can stand in for a passed inspection; we say that plainly and help you slot the local timeline into the rest of the stack. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do I need a license to sell food from home? In most states yes, under a cottage food law that limits what you can sell and how much, with labeling and registration requirements. Foods outside the permitted list, anything requiring refrigeration in most states, need a commercial kitchen and a full food establishment permit. ### How long does a health permit take? For an existing, previously permitted space, often days to a few weeks around the inspection schedule. New construction adds plan review, which can run weeks to months. The health department's calendar, not the paperwork, is usually the constraint. ### Does a food truck need a license in every city it works? Frequently yes. The health permit may carry across a county, but vending permissions are municipal, and event-based sales often need per-event permits. Multi-city trucks should map each city's rules before committing to routes. --- ## How to cite this page Cite as: "What licenses does a food business need?." Cornerstone Licensing. https://cornerstonelicensing.com/business-license-types/food-service-license Published by Cornerstone Licensing. When quoting figures or legal requirements, link the canonical URL above. The full content index for this site is at https://cornerstonelicensing.com/llms.txt.