Food Safety Certification

Wherever you serve food in the United States, food safety is a primary concern of restaurants and a primary consideration for the clientele. After all, food-borne illnesses-whether caused by chemical, physical, or biological contamination—are not just inconveniences but clear and present dangers to health and life. One needs only to recall the recent rash of massive food recalls and public panic, all due to E. Coli or Salmonella contamination fears, to realize how important food safety is and how critical food safety certification ought to be.

Many cities and local jurisdictions today require or recommend food safety certification for people in food establishments whose duties involve storing, preparing, displaying, and serving food. Most restaurants, in fact, now require a food safety certification for employment. In Texas, for instance, the person in charge of food safety in a food establishment is required by the state’s Food Establishment Rules §229.163 to be a certified food-protection manager.

How Do You Get Certified?

You can get your food safety certification by passing an ANSI-CFP nationally accredited certification exam. (ANSI-CFP stands for the American National Standards Institute-Conference for Food Protection.) This exam is made available by the following ANSI-CFP Accredited Food Manager Examination providers: the National Restaurant Association (ServSafe®), the Prometric®, and the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals®.

The certification exam comes in several types depending on your need and on the individual regulations of your locale.

Passing Your Certification Exam

The key to passing any exam, your certification exam included, is good preparation. To prepare well for your certification exam you need to get the best food safety training and, optionally, the best exam review—both available from Learn2serve.com, the leading provider of online food safety manager certification training courses.

If you’re in California for instance, you can take, say, the California Food Handler Training or the LA County Certified Food Handler Training. Either of these courses is excellent preparation for the ANSI-CFP certification exam. If you pass it, you get your California Food Handler card.

If you’re in Texas, you can opt to take Learn2Serve’s Food Manager Certification Examination and Prep Course, a package that combines the Food Safety Manager Training preparation course and the Texas Department of State Health Services-approved Food Protection Management Examination. When you pass the exam, your certificate will be made available for download.