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The Level 2 Food Hygiene & Safety course is a pivotal certification designed to ensure that individuals working within the food handling and preparation sectors in the UK possess the essential knowledge and skills to operate safely.
It is aimed at all food handlers, from those on the front lines in the kitchen to the servers interacting with customers, ensuring they meet the UK’s rigorous food safety standards.
This comprehensive course covers a wide range of critical topics, including the understanding of food safety laws, the importance of personal hygiene, awareness of food-borne illnesses, safe food handling techniques, and the principles of food storage, temperature control, and workplace cleanliness.
By completing this course, individuals not only comply with legal requirements but also contribute to the prevention of food-related incidents, promoting a culture of safety and quality within the food industry.
In the UK, food business operators are required by law to ensure that their staff are trained in food hygiene. Food businesses should also be able to prove that they have complied with the law. The Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety course is designed to meet these legal requirements by covering essential topics outlined in the Food Safety Act 1990, the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, and other relevant legislation.
By providing employees with this training, businesses demonstrate due diligence and compliance with UK food safety laws.
Having staff trained through the Level 2 course not only helps significantly to reduce the risk of food safety incidents, but it also acts as legal protection. In the event of a food safety incident, having a training record such as a certificate, can serve as evidence in a court of law that the business took reasonable precautions and exercised the required due diligence in trying to prevent such incidents.
This can be crucial in legal defence, potentially preventing serious consequences such as fines, civil lawsuits and court orders to suspend business activities.
The reason a free food hygiene course is not recommended is because free food hygiene and safety training normally isn’t accredited, and therefore it likely won’t come with the certificate.
Course accreditation is important because it means that an independent third party, who is qualified in the subject matter, has both reviewed and approved the course material.
To maintain accreditation status of a course, the course creators must submit the course for review each year, and it will be reassessed based on the most up-to-date food hygiene standards and legislation.
The course creators must pay the accreditor to review of the course annually.
As such, if a food hygiene course is 100% free, then likely it has not been accredited, and there’ll be no guarantees that the course material is correct or up-to date.
Most, if not all, free Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety course will not come with a certificate.
Remember, you need the certificate as evidence that you have done your due diligence, if ever an incident with legal implications were to arise.
Some food hygiene educators deploy sneaky tricks to get you to buy their courses. If you’ve searched in Google for a free Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety certificate, you likely came across some providers advertising them.
However, all is not as it seems! So be wary.
One such popular provider is Cocoms. They even boast that their courses are accredited.
Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?
…But like with many things, the devil is in the detail!
While it’s true that these providers do offer a free Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety course, what they neglect to mention, is that you’ll need to pay if you want to receive the certificate.
That’s right. Without the certificate you don’t have any evidence that you or your staff ever completed the course successfully, which means you won’t be armed with the document needed to prove to a court that you carried out your legal due diligence as a food business.
Many people spend hours doing these fake free courses, only to find at the end of it that they won’t get a certificate unless they pay up.
Of course, after having worked for hours on the course, passed the exam, then only to discover that one needs to pay to get the certificate, it might leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Undoubtably many people will bite the bullet and pay, rather than to restart the process with another training provider. But that does not detract from the fact that the training provider mislead you. This is not the kind of company most people would want to deal with.
So, it’s probably best to just look for a reputable and honest training provider who is offering the accredited Level 2 Food hygiene course, with the certificate, and for an affordable low price.
Essential Food Hygiene offers the accredited Level 2 Food hygiene & Safety course for just £10. Bulk discounts are also available if you order more than 10 course seats.
All or our courses are independently accredited by CPD Group, and all learners will receive a certificate upon passing their exam. If a student doesn’t pass the exam, they can retake it as many times as necessary, for free.
If you’re interested in our accredited Level 2 Food Hygiene course & certificate, you can get it here.
We pride ourselves on values of honesty and helpfulness. We were awarded The UK’s best food hygiene and health & safety training provider in 2023.
