• A candidate shall check with their respective state, province or municipality on the latest updates and regulations on getting a food handler certificate.
• The applicant may be asked to provide the blood sample along with the X-ray at the respective office for processing or the applicant may be asked to submit the blood report and X-ray as per the respective department norms.

Apply In-Person:

1. In order to obtain a food handler certificate, the candidate shall approach the respective office of the “Ministry of Health” (Food control).
2. Contact Link AND Link
3. The candidate shall use the contact numbers from the given page as appropriate to find the respective office to apply for this certificate or get certified.
4. The candidate shall visit the respective office and meet the concerned authority. Don’t forget to take the required copy of documents along with originals to the office.
5. The candidate shall enrol in a government accredited training course (Food Hygiene short learning programmes organised by the Environmental Health Department) as appropriate.
6. Please complete the course and obtain the food handler certificate.
7. Once the training is completed, the candidate will be provided with a food handler certificate.
8. The applicant may request the staff at the institute for any other certificate which need to be obtained to get employed as a food handler and please complete the requirement as applicable.
9. The applicant shall clarify with the health department about the medical test and certificate requirement if any.
10. The food business operator should inspect the food handlers on regular basis to make sure the food handlers are practicing the food safety standards as per regulation.
11. The actual duration of the course/training and certification period is what it takes to get the certificate.

• Application form
• Valid citizen proof (respective ID’s issued by respective nation)
• Applicant’s proof of identity (identity card / passport / driving licence)
• Copy of fitness and medical certificate from a medical practitioner as per requirement
• Copy of blood test report as per requirement
• X-ray as per requirement
• Passport size photograph (taken not more than three months from the applying date - 6 copies)
• Copy of passport

Note: Apart from the above documents, the authorities may ask for additional information or documents. Please provide them for processing.

Department of Health,
Dr AB Xuma Building, 1112 Voortrekker Rd,
Pretoria Townlands 351-JR, PRETORIA, 0187.
Phone: 012 395 8000
Contact Link

• All food handlers are eligible to apply.
  
• Any individual whose main duty involves preparing food, like a chef or cook or server, packing and labelling of food packets and bartenders are eligible to apply.
  
• The establishment owners of a food handling business are also eligible to apply.
  
• Those who are 18 years (or as per the age limit set by the department) and above are eligible to apply.
  

• The applicant shall pay the fee as per the authority’s advice.

• The certificate shall be valid for 2-3 years or as per the date mentioned on the certificate. The certificate needs to be renewed on regular basis as per the respective department norms.

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

• Once the application is accepted, the certificate can be obtained within 7 to 14 working days or as per the timeline provided by the authorities.
• In certain cases, the process can be completed within 2 days or immediately as per the need.

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

• A valid certificate holder is advised to undergo health examination by a registered medical practitioner once in every six months or as per the timeline fixed by the respective department.
• If the result of a medical examination indicates that the handler is suffering from a disease likely to contaminate food, the employer shall prohibit that person from being employed as a food handler.
• If the information given by the food handler in relation to his or her application has been found to be false in any material particular, the department will suspend or revoke a food handler certificate.
• If there are grounds to believe that the food handler poses a risk to food safety, the department will suspend or revoke a food handler certificate.
• A food handler certificate should be displayed at a prominent place and need to be presented when requested during the course of his/her duty.
• Please fill the candidate’s details as per the ID proof submitted.
• Don’t forget to take all the originals of the document along with a copy for applying.
• Incomplete application will be rejected.
• Avoid spelling mistakes while filling the application form.

• Name of the applicant
• Valid citizen proof number (respective ID’s issued by respective nation)
• Passport number
• Address of the applicant
• Postal code
• Email ID
• Mobile number
• Date of the application
• Signature of the applicant

• A food handler certificate is required to legally operate any business that handles or processes or serves food.
• Having a food handler certified staff in required numbers as per the respective area norms is mandatory to operate the business without any worry of fine, legal action and for a happy customer base.

• A food handler certificate is also often referred to as a food handlers licence, food handlers card, or food handlers permit.

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

• Please use the following link for additional information Link

More information which might help people.