A lot of effort goes into learning how to properly handle food, though it’s not often something you hear about. If you’re looking at making sure that you choose the right course to help you get the proper certification, you’ll want to focus on the right details to lead you down the right path! Let’s take a look.
What are the top focus points in a food handling course?
Any great food handling course will focus on the same core concepts of food handling in a professional setting. Even if they are described differently or look a little different from one provider to another, the core concept behind them will be the same. When reading up on top-quality courses, here are the core details.
- A core concept of all of their responsibilities when handling food: Food handling is one of those things that seems harder than it looks. From the amount of contact you have to the temperature of the handling environment, to cross-contamination, it all plays a role. If you’ve read through a course explanation and they don’t specifically mention all of these things at the very least, it might not be the right course to teach you what you want to know.
Safely handling food has many responsibilities and will land on your shoulders. Preparation and certification are essential for a reason! - An appreciation for great hygiene and safety: Other than understanding your responsibilities, you’ll also want to find a course and a provider that will both acknowledge and teach a great professional appreciation for grey hygiene and safety. For example, teaching basic concepts of hygiene is expected. But, if you find a course that specifically details what great hygiene looks like, this will always give you a great learning experience. For example, employees can practice great hygiene on the job and promote it in their workplace.
Safety also plays a key role in this part, too. When it comes to food handling it would be understanding how to detect bad/ruined food, and how to keep it from going bad in the first place! - Proper respect for the safety features: There are always safety measures in place around food handling. A course that details all of these measures — even the tiny ones — will give you a great appreciation for safety. It also means that you’ll be more likely to spot that there is a problem, too, when you’re working in that kind of position after you graduate.
Not all courses or options will focus on all of these facets. This is why you’ll want to look closely through course listings and options catalogs. Of course, you can look at a few leading names to get you started. For example, Learn2Serve and ServSafe are both recommended, well-reviewed, and give you that reassuring gut feeling you want when it comes to a trustworthy choice.
Sometimes, few local pop-up places can offer food certification courses, too. But you’ll need to look carefully for details on each course and what kind of formally recognized accreditation they can offer! If it feels sketchy, avoid it! After all, the whole point of these food handling courses is to ensure that you can safely and confidently handle food that you will eventually serve to someone.
If you don’t actually learn how to do that, there is no point in wasting your money! You’ll also risk other people’s safety and health, which is no small thing.
How to determine a great course
Other than looking at the names above and your gut instinct, one of the factors is the course price, naturally. You don’t want to go for a bargain-basement one because it may not give you the proper certification that you need. Likewise, you might not want to shell out for the top bucks, because the budget is a concern! Sound familiar?
The standard price will start at around $100 regarding the proper accreditation you’re looking for. If you want that level of professionalism, don’t forget to look at the coupons and discounts available for Learn2Serve courses. It’ll help you enjoy the best savings but still make sure you don’t need to compromise on the quality of the course!
