Candidate Information

Welcome to the Food Safety First Principles: for Food Handlers Program

Food Safety First Principles for Food Handlers Certificate Program provides food handlers with the basic knowledge they need to safely handle food for human consumption. Successful completion of the program assures food managers, regulators and trainers that the certificate holder has completed a basic course in food safety and passed an assessment based on the course material. The First
Principles course is based on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Code and is recommended for workers involved in the preparation, handling, serving and displaying of food. Formal food safety training is not uniformly required by law in all local and state health jurisdictions, check with the local or state health department in your area.

Food Handlers play a major role in keeping food safe. This program will help you understand food safety and how to apply this knowledge in the workplace.

Privacy Statement

National Registry of Food Safety Professionals (NRFSP) will safeguard the privacy of candidates, where applicable, and will hold in confidence and in a secure manner the information obtained in the course of certificate program activities at all levels of the organization, including those of the Certificate Advisory Panel and subcontractors acting on its behalf. Information about a particular candidate will not be disclosed to a third party by NRFSP personnel without the written consent of the candidate, except when mandated by law. Where the law requires the information to be disclosed to a third party, the candidate will be notified of the information provided.

If a candidate needs to confirm the term of validity for their certificate, they can email customer service at Customer.Service@nrfsp.com or call at 800-446-0257.

Non–Discrimination and Special Accommodations

Non-Discrimination:
NRFSP endorses the principles of equal opportunity to each candidate that takes the course and assessment by providing the general principles of fairness and equality relative to a candidate's age, gender, race, religion, ethnic origin, disabilities or marital status.

Special Accommodations:
Reasonable accommodations for the course and assessment will be provided at no cost to a candidate with disabilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The candidate may request a form from their Approved Program Provider or download it from our Website, www.NRFSP.com if a special accommodation is needed. An appropriate licensed professional must complete the form in order for a candidate's accommodation request to be processed.

Click here for the Accommodation Documentation Form.

Assessment Rules and Certificate Invalidation

The following are the rules enforced at all course and assessment sites:

All candidates must have government-issued photo identification to be admitted.
Candidates arriving five minutes late for the course and assessment will not be admitted and may forfeit their fees at the discretion of the Approved Program Provider.
Candidates must be present throughout the entire course and pass the assessment to receive a Certificate of Completion.
No guests are permitted to "sit-in" on the course or assessment.
No assisting or soliciting assistance from other candidates.
If candidate fails the assessment they may review the course materials and retake the assessment at the discretion of the Approved Program Provider.

Violating Rules:
If a candidate is caught violating course and assessment rules, such as cheating or not following other program procedures, the candidate can be dismissed from the site and may be declared permanently ineligible for future courses and assessments.

Appeals:
An appeal is a formal request for reconsideration of an adverse decision made by National Registry of Food Safety Professionals (NRFSP), the Certificate Advisory Panel or its representatives related to a candidate's achievement of a certificate of completion. The appeal must be made in writing to NRFSP within 30 days of receiving the determination being appealed.

Click here for the Appeals Submission Form.

Complaints:
Candidate's with concerns regarding the course, assessment, personnel, or other elements of the certificate program are encouraged to discuss these concerns with those involved to try to resolve the matter informally. If informal resolution is not possible, and a candidate wishes to file a formal complaint, it should be submitted in writing to NRFSP within 90 days of the incident's occurrence. In the case of complaints related to a course or assessment administration, those must be submitted in writing within two weeks after the course or assessment administration. Anonymous complaints will not be considered.

Click here for the Complaint Submission Form.

Candidate Score Form

Approved Program Providers are required to submit a Candidate Score Form with each candidate's name, city, state, email address, assessment score, expiration of the certificate of completion and if the candidate was present for the entire course and assessment.

Candidate Feedback Form
Approved Program Providers are required to provide each candidate with a Candidate Feedback Form and ask the Candidate for any feedback as it relates to the course and assessment. It is the Candidate's responsibility to return the feedback to the National Registry via mail, email, fax, or Approved Program Provider.

If a candidate is not comfortable with providing feedback to the Approved Program Provider, please email feedback to Customer.Service@nrfsp.com or submit a feedback form via www.NRFSP.com/foodhandler/Feedback.

Certificate vs Certification

National Registry's First Principles for Food Handlers program is a certificate program for food handlers, not a food manager certification. The First Principles certificate program is accredited by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) against the ASTM E2659-09 standard.

An assessment-based certificate program is a non-degree granting educational program consisting of:

1. a learning event or series of events designed to educate or train individuals to achieve specified learning outcomes within a defined scope, and
2. a system designed to ensure individuals receive a certificate only after verification of successful completion of all program requisites including but not limited to an assessment of learner attainment of intended learning outcomes.
An assessment-based certificate is NOT a certificate of attendance or participation, which are provided to individuals who have attended or participated in classes, courses, or other education/training programs or events but did not have to demonstrate accomplishment of the intended learning outcomes.

Contact Information

National Registry of Food Safety Professionals, 6751 Forum Drive #220, Orlando Florida, FL 32821
Customer.Service@nrfsp.com
Phone: 407-352-3830
Fax: 407-352-3603

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