On July 1, the Health Department adopted the Manufactured Food Emergency Rule to align with Act 42 (2025). Act 42 changes the requirements for claiming a licensing exemption for certain types of small food processors. Read about the changes for license exempt food processors and cottage food operators.

What the Food and Lodging Program Does
The Food and Lodging Program works to protect health and prevent disease by promoting sanitation and food safety. To accomplish this, we license and inspect over 6,000 places where food is prepared, served, processed, or stored. We also regulate lodging facilities including hotels, bed & breakfasts, and children’s camps.
How to Get a License From the Health Department
Your first step is to determine which type of license you need. Once you know which type of license you need, click on the link below and follow the steps on that web page.
- Retail service - If you're licensing a restaurant, commercial catering business, food truck, pushcart, retail bakery, limited operation, seafood vending or shellfish reshipping/repacking business.
- Food processing - If you're licensing a manufacturing facility to make products like salsa, sauce, salad dressing, coffee, beverages, snacks, candy, chocolate, condiments, jam and jelly, etc. Warehouses and distribution centers also need this type of license.
- Lodging - If you're licensing a hotel, motel, tourist home or B&B that offers three or more guest rooms OR fewer units if you also prepare food.
- Home-based food business - If you want to sell certain allowable home-prepared foods to customers.
- Temporary food service - If you’re licensing a temporary stand to sell prepared food at a farmers market, fair or other special event.
In rare cases, a license is not required. Learn more about license exemptions
The appeal process for a licensing decision can be found in the Statement of Procedural Rights.
We recently redesigned the handwashing posters! Two sizes — in both full color and grayscale — are available for you to print.
Frequently Asked Questions

Translated Information
Applications
Application for License to Operate a Lodging Establishment or Children's Camp: العربية (Arabic) | မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) |中文 (Simplified Chinese)| دری (Dari) | English | Français (French) | Kirundi | नेपाली (Nepali)| پښتو (Pashto)| Soomaali (Somali) | Español (Spanish)
Application to Operate a Manufactured Food Establishment: العربية (Arabic) | မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) |中文 (Simplified Chinese)| دری (Dari) | English | Français (French) | Kirundi | नेपाली (Nepali)| پښتو (Pashto)| Soomaali (Somali) | Español (Spanish)
Application for License to Operate a Retail Food Establishment: العربية (Arabic) | မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) |中文 (Simplified Chinese)| دری (Dari) | English | Français (French) | Kirundi | नेपाली (Nepali) | پښتو (Pashto)| Soomaali (Somali) | Español (Spanish)
Application for License to Operate a Temporary Food Service Establishment: العربية (Arabic) | မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) |中文 (Simplified Chinese)| دری (Dari) | English | Français (French) | Kirundi | नेपाली (Nepali) | پښتو (Pashto)| Soomaali (Somali) | Español (Spanish)
For Emergencies
Guidance for Re-opening Food and Lodging Establishments After Flooding: العربية (Arabic) | မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) | دری (Dari) | English | Français (French) | Kirundi | Soomaali (Somali) | Español (Spanish)
Boil Water Notice Guidance for Food Establishments: العربية (Arabic) | မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) | دری (Dari) | English | Français (French) | Kirundi | Soomaali (Somali) | Español (Spanish)
Electrical Outage Guidance for Food Establishments: العربية (Arabic) | မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) | دری (Dari) | English | Français (French) | Kirundi | Soomaali (Somali) | Español (Spanish)
Contact Us
Mailing address:
VT Dept. of Health
Environmental Health
Food & Lodging Program
280 State Drive
Waterbury, VT 05671-8350
Phone: 802-863-7221 or 800-439-8550 (toll-free within Vermont)
Fax: 802-863-7483
Email: FoodLodging@vermont.gov