How to renew your Food Hygiene Certificate

There are those who say that the food safety certification should not be updated, but that is not correct. Both the national and European regulation, by not explicitly indicating the renewal deadlines, may suggest that there are no deadlines, but there are. Every professional should be up to date with regulatory changes and keep up to date with their training. If the certificates were not renewed, many of the new rules that a food handler needs to know, such as the allergens regulation (Food Information Law), would not be known.

As we have said before, the Regulation 852/2004 does not include a certain expiration date for the renewal of the food safety certification, but this does not mean that it should not be done, on the contrary. The term will depend on the training company, although it is usually recommended that it be 4 years, which is the same as the term previously set by law. This is the most common general renewal period, although we will see below that there are other periods used as well.

Companies have their own training programmes that are established on the basis of their General Hygiene Plans, Quality Control Systems or Health Documentation, in which the food handler certificates must be renewed, depending on the position occupied. Each company knows its needs and, depending on the food risk of its activity, the deadlines are longer or shorter.

That said, the most common deadlines are:

• One year in the preparation and/or handling of food for high-risk people such as the sick, the elderly and children in situations of special sensitivity.
• Two years in high-risk activities such as community kitchens, with special sensitivity for schoolchildren and geriatrics, prepared food processing plants and fresh produce stores with handling and cutting.
• Three years in hotels and hotels that serve more than 150 meals a day.
• Four years in bars and restaurants.
• Six years in packaged fruit / vegetable food establishments.
• Eight years of non-contact, non-handled food transportation.

However, it is advisable not to let the certificate 'age', since the knowledge acquired in obtaining it may become obsolete, outdated and insufficient for current activity, being a disadvantage in a world as competitive as today's to find or keep a job.

Renewing your food safety certificate is easy and fast. At least if you do it with us, of course. If you got your certificate with us, you'll already know that our system is very simple, economical and fast. In fact, with us you can renew your training in just a few minutes and have your certificate renewed instantly.

If for some reason you prefer to renew your certification with another academy, you only have to look for the one that offers you the most confidence (we suggest you check its solvency, experience and solidity) and follow the steps indicated. Normally, although not always, it can be done online via the Internet, as in our case, and consists of updating knowledge by redoing the food hygiene course and acquiring the new knowledge that has appeared since the last certification was obtained or its last renewal.

Once the knowledge is updated, the new certificate is requested until the next renewal. So simple and with the security and confidence of being up to date with the regulations for a few years.

Currently, the most important novelty with which a person renewing a food hygiene certification finds himself is the allergen information (Food Information Law), which we increasingly see in catering establishments and which protect allergic customers from consuming food that may cause them an allergic reaction or severe anaphylactic shock.