To remedy this and to help curb the number of cases of foodborne illnesses, food safety training programs are now mandated by the Hamilton local health authorities.
The fine print on mandated training
The city of Hamilton is governed by the province of Ontario’s food safety laws. In 2008 and 2010, Ontario mandated all medium and high risk food premises in the province to have a certified food handler present at all times in the establishment (on duty at all operating hours). The food handler who is certified has to be part of a management staff or have supervisory capacity. Of course, the final say (regarding the number of staff members trained) rests on the public health inspector of the area.
What you get at Hamilton First Aid
The certification courses in food safety at Hamilton First Aid are the ones required by the local health authorities. You can be sure that the training credential you receive from training with us is valid all over the province and will surely be accepted by Hamilton’s local health authorities. Certificates are valid for a total of five years after they are first issues, and can be renewed by retaking the certification exam.
Basic food safety and sanitation
A basic training course introduces trainees to concepts in microbiology, illness and disease, home management, and most importantly food safety skills and techniques. We initially designed the course to direct food handlers – or the members of the staff who directly come into contact with food, either through preparation, packaging, or serving the product. However, as the the demand for a food safety training course grew, we have made this basic course available to anyone interested in learning and training in food safety and sanitation.
Our advanced course is much longer and complex, taking two full days to complete. We require all applications to this course to have a basic food safety training credential first (or an equivalent certificate). The curriculum focuses on the different aspects of food facility management – this makes the course targeted towards supervisors and managerial staff, though anyone with a basic credential can take the course.
Details: Full day training starts at 8:30 AM and ends at 4:30 PM. It costs 46 dollars, with certification done on a different date (of your choice). The advanced course is more expensive than basic training.
Food Safety and Certification
Certificates in food safety and sanitation training are awarded to students who pass the certification exam. You do not have to take the full training program to sign up for a certification exam; we make self-study available to students by allowing them to purchase the workbooks used in the full course. Just remember to sign up for a certification exam if you decide to self-study. Pre-registration is a must for our certification exams; we do not accept walk-ins.