Licensed food handler certification

[Ben C]

Hi there,

Can someone explain the qualitative differences among the various food safety certification programs like ServSafe, Prometric, NRFSP, etc.? Or are there any to begin with? I'm launching a chocolates business and will shortly be investigating commercial kitchen rental. I must confess that at this preliminary stage, I am utterly clueless about the bureaucratic side of things.

Based on a cursory search, ServSafe appears to be the most "popular," if that means anything; however, here in Los Angeles it appears that any formal certification is acceptable so long as it's administered by an accredited organization.

Thanks for your help,

Ben C

[SundaySous]

You need to contact the municipality you will be operating in and find out which one they accept. Probably ServSafe. You probably want to contact your health department.

[Joisey]

There are usually local certs you can get, but I've found that because ServSafe is so comprehensive it is a widely accepted substitute.

[Nathan Kurz]

Can someone explain the qualitative differences among the various food safety certification programs like ServSafe, Prometric, NRFSP, etc.? Or are there any to begin with?

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I've been trying to figure out the California requirements as well. From what I can tell, all the programs you mention are equivalent, and meet the state requirements. This PDF might be helpful: http://www.csupomona.edu/~ehs/ftp/cfhlac.pdf

One of the things I've found confusing is that what California calls a "Food Handler" seems to be equivalent to what other states call a "Food Manager". So when looking at online courses, you want the more extensive course that includes that word 'manager', not the simpler 'handler' course that some states require of all employees in a food establishment.

[Ben C]

Thanks all.

Yeah, info on the various California/Los Angeles city/Los Angeles county websites seems inexplicably hard to come by. There is this one page on LA's Public Health Department site that seems hopelessly out of date, and I haven't been able to reach anyone thus far at the number at the bottom.

If the folks at Premier Food Safety are to be believed, all the cert. programs I mentioned in my original post are acceptable. ServSafe does appear to be the program of choice among all the test organizations; I just wish there was some hard info explaining why. It's always slightly more expensive than the others as well.

Ben

[SundaySous]

Visit some existing restaurants in the area and ask them. And I do mean a few so you get a consensus.