Fighting food poisoning with Food Safety in Mississauga
The only way to fight food poisoning cases is with safe food handling or Food Safety in Mississauga. In a year, millions of Canadians, an estimated 4.5 million, are affected by food poisoning. Though the colloquial term ‘food poisoning’ is more popular, the actual term used for the condition is foodborne illness – which is a category rather than being a formal diagnosis. A person can ingest different kinds of pathogenic microorganisms, meaning he or she can become infected with different foodborne diseases. These diseases are all clumped together because of similar signs and symptoms:
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
- Vomiting
- Diarrea
- Abdominal pain
- Abdominal cramps
An infected person can experience all if not most of these symptoms, with severity depending on the microorganism ingested and the victim’s state of health.
Ontario’s Mandatory Food Handler Training
In Ontario and all it’s cities (including Mississauga) need to abide to by-law 78-2010, mandatory food handler training. With amendments made to the by-law in 2008 and 2010, today, all medium and high-risk facilities should have a certified staff member present at times food is being handled in the establishment. The certified staff member has to have trained in a provider approved by the city’s local health authorities and health department. The final number of staff members who need to take training will be decided by the public health inspector assigned to grant the establishment a health permit and/or license to operate.
Mississauga First Aid works closely with the local health department, so all our training credentials have provincial validity. The basic training course in food safety is the minimum amount of training the certified food handler can have, but an advanced training course is available as well.
- Basic food safety, level one – 8 hours, introduction to food safety and foodborne illness
- Advanced food safety, level two – 16 hours, introduction to food establishment management
- Refresher classes – 4 – 8 hours; refresher class on food safety (taken at least every five years or sooner as needed)
Certification at Mississauga First Aid
Once a student finishes the training program with complete attendance, he or she has to take and pass a certification exam with at least a 75 percent score. After this, a training credential is awarded to the student, which needs to be renewed every five years. Students have to take a refresher class and a new certification exam to receive a renewed credential (for another five years).
Enrolling to a class at Mississauga First Aid
We want to make it very easy for prospective trainees to enroll so we made an interactive form on the Mississauga First Aid website. No downloads necessary! Just type in your information and chosen program and schedule and click submit. We will receive you request right away but we will only be able to process it during business hours. Same goes for inquiries sent via e-mail.
You can also call or visit us, but do so during business hours so there will be staff present to assist you. If you want to enroll personally, you may as well.