Madison County offers food service, sanitation course geared for food trucks, pop-ups, cook-offs
by Randy Pierce • Newly-established for 2026, an in-person and online course for people who handle and serve food on a temporary basis is being offered by the Madison County Health Department in the interest of public safety at various events.
Doug King, director of the health department, explained to members of a committee set up to address pertinent concerns last month that, “There are so many food vendors, like one-day events that go on in the county over the summer and spring that we just don’t have enough resources to get out and inspect every one of them.”
The new course is being implemented, he added, because it has been a problem for the health department staff “making sure that the people that are doing it have some at-least basic sanitation knowledge.”
The course addresses such subjects as hand-washing and keeping food hot, King said, with participants receiving a certificate indicating they have completed it to provide assurance that they have been trained as needed.
As examples of the types of situations which are applicable concerning this program, King mentioned chili cook-offs, various types of fairs and church events, like fish fries, where food is made available for consumption and which all require permits from the health department anyway, but this course will provide an added element of public safety in such cases.
“It’s so nuanced,” King commented. “There’s so many different ones, it’s hard to categorize these food events now. There’s just all kinds of variations. You name it, it’s happening.”
“We’re just trying to corral it some to make sure that the ones we’re not getting to, the one-day events, the pop-ups, the randoms, that they’re aware this is out there.”
The temporary food handlers’ course is being offered free of charge every Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the health department which is located at 101 East Edwardsville Road in Wood River and can also be taken online through the appropriate web site connection.
To find the course online, go to the county’s web site at www.madisoncountyil.gov then on the home page, click on “departments,” next selecting “Health Department.” On the health department page, find “food safety” in the column on the left side then follow it to “temporary food service establishments” which will lead you to a page headed with “Food Safety” and “temporary permits.” The second paragraph on that page provides details about the course and how to access it online.
