At best, a serious case of food poisoning could damage your reputation (example Heston Blumenthal Michellin starred restaurant The Fat Duck had major bad publicity, thankfully now rectified). At worst, it could endanger your customers’ lives.

The fact is responsible organisations are those who care about their customers.

As a responsible organisation, you can help to ensure the safety of your business and your customers by gaining a thorough knowledge of basic food hygiene principles and practice.

Basic Food Hygiene will help employees to establish and maintain high standards of food hygiene within their business.

The high quality, interactive content provides an effective grounding in food safety which can help participants achieve a recognised public health qualification.

Who is the course for?

Basic Food Hygiene is a comprehensive course which is appropriate for people, such as cooks, kitchen assistants, food preparers or waiters, who handle food directly or indirectly.

It will suit anyone who is new to the industry and also existing staff who want to refresh and develop their knowledge and skills.

It is aimed at businesses of all sizes in the catering and hospitality sector. No prior knowledge or experience is needed and there are no formal entry requirements.

What will you get from this course?

• When you have completed this course, you will be able to:
• understand how good food hygiene contributes to food safety
• explain how micro-organisms cause illness through contamination
• appreciate the importance of personal hygiene and good hygiene practices
• describe current legal obligations and the consequences of non-compliance identify
• what hazards are and how they are controlled and monitored

• Sit one of the following exams
• Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) qualifications: Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene
• Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering.

Celebrity Chef Teaches You Basic Food Hygiene

The course is introduced by celebrity chef and host, James Martin, of BBC TV’s Saturday Kitchen.

You can start the course as soon as you receive your CD-ROM and use it at any time, providing you have access to a computer with an internet connection.

It is available for six months from the date first accessed.

Basic Food Hygiene uses on-screen text, audio, high quality video and animation to help you develop your knowledge and skills.

It covers all aspects of food safety including possible contamination routes and methods of reduction, common-sense hygiene practices and an overview of relevant legislation.

A number of multiple-choice questions, real-life examples and practical exercises help you test what you have learned and check your understanding.

Each exercise is followed by immediate feedback.

Course modules

• Introduction Micro-organisms
• Other Contaminants
• Storage
• Cleaning and Disinfection
• Pest Controls
• Premises and Equipment
• Personal Hygiene
• Legislation
• Hazard Analysis

Does the course lead to a formal qualification?

When you have completed this course, you will possess the knowledge needed to sit one of the following Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) qualifications:

• Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene
• Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering.

This course provides the background learning for the qualifications. The required exam is provided separately at one of our RSPH accredited learndirect centres in England and Wales.

The cost of sitting the exam may vary between centres, but it is typically around £30. The exam is online, which means you'll get your results straight away. Find your nearest RSPH test centre.