Sri Lanka - Apply for a Food Handler Certificate

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Procedure

• 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. As a food handler, the candidate should have to completed training on food safety or hygiene from a government recognised institution as appropriate and then the candidate should get medical fitness certificate from a medical officer registered with the Sri Lanka Medical Council. The applicant shall approach the respective office of the “Food Control Administration Unit” of the “Ministry of Health”.
2. Contact Link
3. The candidate shall use the contact numbers from the given page as appropriate to find the contact details of the respective approved training institution that offers food safety or hygiene training to enrol in the training course.
4. The candidate shall visit the respective institution and meet the concerned authority. Don’t forget to take the required copy of documents along with originals to the office.
5. The applicant shall follow the guidelines of the concerned authority to get enrol in the training course as appropriate. Also, please confirm about any other certification required and also the contact details of the nearest registered medical officer to get the medical fitness certificate.
6. The applicant shall complete the training course as applicable and obtain the food safety certificate.
7. Now, the applicant shall visit the registered medical officer to get medical fitness certificate.
8. Contact link in the given page, please use the “Public” menu and then choose the “Registers” sub option for a new page. Here, please scroll down and then click on the “Access the Registry” button at the bottom for a new page. In the new page, please process the prompts as appropriate and then click on the “Submit” button for the respective details.
9. Please visit the respective practitioner and follow their instructions and undertake the medical screening as per norms.
10. Once the medical screening is completed and the test results are ready, the medical practitioner will issue the medical fitness certificate as per applicable norms. The applicant shall collect the medical certificate from the centre on a notified date.
11. With the food safety training certificate and the medical certificate in hand, the candidate can be employed as a food handler.
12. The applicants are advised to pay for the course and medical test as per authorities quote as appropriate.
13. The duration for obtaining the training certificate depends on the course duration and certification period. The test result for medical screening may take 5 days or as per the test and the duration in which the result can be known.

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Required Documents

• Application form
• Valid citizen proof (respective ID’s issued by respective nation)
• Applicant’s proof of identity (identity card / passport / driving licence)
• A photocopy of the original certificate denoting completion of food handler’s course
• Copy of fitness and medical certificate from a medical practitioner
• Copy of blood test report as per requirement
• X-ray as per requirement as per requirement
• Passport size photograph (taken not more than three months from the applying date - 6 copies)
• Copy of passport
• A self-addressed envelope with or without stamps (as per requirement)

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

Office Locations & Contacts

Food Control Administration Unit,
Ministry of Health
No. 26, Medi-House Building,
Sri Sangaraja Mawatha, Colombo 10.
Phone: 0112112718
Fax: 0112112720
Contact Link

Eligibility

• 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.
  

Fees

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

Validity

• The certificate shall be valid as per the date mentioned on the certificate.
• The applicant should undertake an annual (or six months once) medical screening test.

Documents to Use

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

Sample Documents

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Processing Time

• The duration for obtaining the training certificate depends on the course duration and certification period. The test result for medical screening may take 5 days or as per the test and the duration in which the result can be known.

Related Videos

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'.

Instructions

• 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 food handler is found by a medical practitioner to be suffering from a communicable disease, the department will suspend or revoke a food safety certificate.
• 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 safety 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 safety certificate.
• A food safety 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.

Required Information

• 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

Need for the Document

• A food safety certificate is required to legally operate any business that handles or processes or serves food.
• Having a food safety 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.

Information which might help

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

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

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

External Links

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Others

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