Food Handler Card in Albuquerque, NM

How food handler rules work in Albuquerque

Albuquerque and Bernalillo County are the one place in New Mexico where the state's Food Safety Program has no jurisdiction at all. The City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department enforces its own 2024 Food Service and Retail Ordinance instead, under Home Rule authority, and that ordinance's food handler card requirement reads almost identically to the state's: a valid card from an ANSI/ASTM E2659-09 accredited training program within 30 calendar days of starting work, unless the employee is a Certified Food Protection Manager or handles only pre-packaged, non-TCS food. Fenix's ANAB-accredited course meets that same accreditation standard.

Because Albuquerque runs this independently, inspectors here enforce the city ordinance, not NMAC 7.6.2 — a citation to the state rule technically doesn't apply within city limits, even though the practical requirements line up. Outside the city, unincorporated Bernalillo County is a third jurisdiction again: it's permitted separately by Bernalillo County Consumer Health Protection, not the City's Environmental Health Department. If you have a question about an in-house training program or a local exemption inside city limits, the Consumer Health Protection Division at (505) 768-2632 is the office to call — the state Food Program can't help with Albuquerque-specific questions.