A Food Handling Certificate Is Not Just Training, It is a Promise

(Nick). Submitted on Sat, 21 Jan 2012

Chances are you or someone you know has been out to a restaurant and had a great time, only to spend the next few hours or more seriously ill with a case of food poisoning. Perhaps your first thought is that you have simply reacted badly to a combination of ingredients, or that a kitchen worker mishandled the food in some way. Seldom is that first thought along the lines of whether each of the kitchen staff has a food handling certificate, however, and such terrible experiences underscore exactly why having one when working in a food establishment is so necessary.



Avoiding food poisoning cases are just one of the reasons to have a food handling certificate. Compensating the customer or customers affected is costly and professionally embarrassing to the establishment. No one wants to become known for having terrible, poorly prepared food. Negative publicity, increased insurance costs, loss of jobs, legal costs should the affected customers decide to take their grievance to a higher authority, even closure of the business itself – all these are very possible, very likely results that are very avoidable with the right training.

No truly professional organisation involving food can operate without money, and training for a food handling certificate will save money in the long run by avoiding circumstances for food-borne illnesses and reducing food waste associated with mishandling. Wasted food is wasted money, and it is a shame to see perfectly usable goods thrown in the rubbish. To give an idea of just how much is thrown away, a study in 2009 showed that Australians discarded roughly $5.2 billion worth of food, with this number increasing to $7.8 billion in 2010. That's over 4 billion tonnes of food, which is roughly a quarter of the country's food supplies – enough to feed the entire nation for a month! While these numbers include households across Australia, supermarkets are among the biggest offenders, discarding millions of kilos of food because of regulations involving changed labels, inaccuracies in the products' labelling or weighting, new or outdated packaging, discontinued and changed-over items, and excess stock at the end of a season.

As one can see, it is not only restaurants that can benefit from their staff training for a food handling certificate.  Any place that handles food items for public consumption can as well, whether that place is a café, school canteen or hotel, anything that can be defined via food retail. Every potential customer and consumer wants to be reassured that what they purchase is safe for both themselves and their children to eat, whether the food is made from scratch or pre-cooked. Even cross-contamination via raw meat juices coming into contact with other food items can be avoided via training of proper handling. Customer satisfaction keeps businesses going: no supermarket will remain operational if the “fresh” produce is rotten, and no restaurant will prosper if the crisps are stale.

A food handling certificate demonstrates more than just good training in safe food handling procedures. It is tangible proof of your promise to the public not to abuse their trust when they put their safety in your hands by purchasing your products.

 

About the Author

Do you need a food handling certificate?  Our food safety courses provide the skills and knowledge you need when working in the food service industry.  With a variety of delivery options that include online and correspondence courses, obtaining food service certification from us is convenient and affordable. 

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