ServSafe Manager certification runs five years from your exam date; Food Handler and Alcohol certificates run three. Allergens carries no published validity window at all, since ServSafe issues it as a certificate of completion rather than a certification exam.
You can renew ServSafe Manager online by passing the same exam at home with ProctorU, 56 of 80 to pass. Nassau County, NY does not accept ServSafe at all.
A ServSafe Food Handler course and its 40-question assessment run around $15 together, direct from ServSafe, with three attempts included before a repurchase is required. The certificate itself stays valid for three years, not the five most people assume from the Manager credential.
A ServSafe Food Handler certificate runs three years — shorter than the five-year figure often borrowed from the Manager credential. Renewal means retaking the same 40-question assessment and passing 30 of 40 (75%), non-proctored, with three attempts allowed before the course has to be bought again.
ServSafe Manager passes at 56 of 80 scored questions (70%). Some cities, Dallas among them, want a certified manager on site every hour a restaurant is open.
ServSafe renewal means passing again: Manager every five years ($99 exam, Oct 2026), Food Handler, Alcohol and Allergens every three. Some states differ.
ServSafe Manager certification lasts five years from your exam date; Food Handler and Alcohol certificates run on a shorter three-year clock, a distinction many prep sites still get wrong.
