Raise hygiene standards and support compliance with online food safety courses
Train your team to handle food safely and meet their legal responsibilities with our online food hygiene courses. Choose from Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and specialist training in allergens, Listeria and food safety risk assessment.
Every Human Focus course is independently reviewed and certified to ensure accuracy, legal compliance and relevance to industry standards. You get training that helps build capability, supports compliance and delivers credentials your workforce and regulators can trust.
Food hygiene courses are organised into levels that match how much responsibility you have for food safety. Choosing the right level is the most important decision when booking training — it makes sure staff get content relevant to their role without paying for more than they need.
Specialist courses — such as Listeria training and allergen awareness — sit alongside these levels to cover specific risks in more depth
| Course | Level 1 Food Hygiene Awareness | Level 2 Food Safety | Level 3 Food Safety Management |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Staff handling wrapped or low-risk food, or working around food without preparing it | Anyone who prepares, cooks, handles or serves open, high-risk food | Supervising and managing food safety in the workplace |
| Typical roles | Kitchen and counter assistants, front-of-house, baristas, packing, warehouse and cold-chain operatives, delivery and agency staff | Cooks, chefs, hospitality and kitchen staff, production line operatives, food retail staff, team leaders and supervisors | Head chefs, kitchen and catering managers, production managers, supervisors and business owners |
| Course length | Approximately 1 hour | Approximately 4 hours | Approximately 4 hours |
| HACCP included? | No | Yes — a dedicated module on the seven HACCP principles | Yes — built around HACCP and food safety management systems |
| What it covers | Food safety law, hazards and allergens, personal hygiene, cleaning, storage, temperature control and cross-contamination | Everything in Level 1 in more depth, plus HACCP, food safety management, allergen control and safe handling of high-risk food | Managing food safety: hazard analysis and control, HACCP, monitoring and corrective action, premises and equipment design, and due diligence |
Our Food Safety Management Level 3 course is designed for supervisors and managers who are responsible for food safety in their workplace. It builds on Level 2 to give you the knowledge and practical understanding needed to manage food safety in a way that is consistent, structured and legally compliant — including how to identify hazards, control risks, and make sure the food produced under your supervision is safe for consumers.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
The course is divided into 10 modules:
Each module includes an interactive summary and a knowledge test. The module tests aren’t part of your final result, but you must pass each one to progress, and you can retake them as often as you like. After completing all modules, you take the end-of-course assessment — a mix of multiple-choice and case-study questions covering every module. You need 80% overall to pass, with two attempts; if you don’t pass on the second attempt, you’ll need to retake the course before attempting the assessment again.
Assign courses, maintain training records and automatically track progress with the LMS Portal. Deliver
training online and let staff complete courses on any device.
Food contamination can lead to severe illness and even death. Therefore, anyone who works with food must ensure that it is prepared under safe conditions that prevent cross-contamination. Food businesses must ensure food handlers are supervised and trained so they can handle food safely.
Our courses equip professionals with the essential knowledge and skills needed to maintain the highest standards of food safety and hygiene while upholding industry regulations.
It’s estimated that about 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness occur every year in the UK, according to the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Many foodborne illnesses are linked to poor hygiene, unsafe handling, cross-contamination or inadequate controls. Training programmes play a crucial role in overcoming this issue by teaching safer food handling practices.
Businesses that prioritise food safety training also build trust with their customers and reduce liability in cases of foodborne illness outbreaks. Food hygiene training courses provide food handlers with the necessary knowledge and skills to prevent food contamination and minimise the risk of foodborne illnesses. Our courses also help workers meet the legal regulations relevant to food safety.
Employers must take proactive measures to maintain the highest food safety and hygiene standards.
To ensure a safe and healthy food environment, employers must:
These responsibilities are outlined in the following legislation:
By fulfilling these responsibilities, employers can create a safer and healthier work environment, protect public health and ensure legal compliance.
Allergen management is now one of the most heavily regulated areas of food safety. There are 14 major allergens that must be declared by law: cereals containing gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, soya, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin and sulphites.
Since October 2021, Natasha’s Law (the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019) has required businesses to label food that is prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) with a full ingredients list and the allergens clearly emphasised. The law was introduced after the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who suffered a fatal allergic reaction to undeclared sesame in a prepacked baguette. Equivalent rules apply across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Getting allergens wrong can be fatal and can lead to prosecution. Every food business should make sure staff can identify the 14 allergens, handle them safely to prevent cross-contamination, and give accurate allergen information to customers. Our Food Allergen Awareness Training for Food Businesses course covers these requirements in full and works well alongside any Level 2 food safety course.
Different sectors face different risks and answer to different regulators, so the right training depends not just on your role but on the industry you work in.
HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is an internationally recognised system for identifying food safety hazards and controlling them at the critical points in your process. UK food law requires every food business to put procedures based on HACCP principles in place.
Our Level 2 Food Safety courses for catering and manufacturing each include a dedicated HACCP module, covering the seven HACCP principles and how they apply to purchasing, storage, preparation, allergen control, labelling and product recall. This gives food handlers and supervisors both the day-to-day skills and an understanding of the food safety management system that regulators expect. Supervisors and managers who need to design, run and monitor that system can take this further with our Level 3 Food Safety Management course.
Anyone who handles, prepares, serves or sells food as part of their job, including chefs, waiting staff, care workers, and food retailers.
You’ll learn how to safely handle and store food to prevent contamination. You’ll also learn how to manage allergens, as well as required personal hygiene standards and relevant food safety regulations.
Yes. Food handlers must receive training or supervision appropriate to their role. A formal food safety training certificate is not always legally required, but it is useful evidence of training.
Yes. You can complete all of our food hygiene courses online, letting you learn at your own pace from anywhere with internet access.
Yes. Our food safety courses are approved or certified by recognised bodies, such as IIRSM and CPD.
The certificates are valid for three years. After that, it’s recommended to retake the training to stay current with the latest knowledge and best practices.
Yes. These courses are suitable for businesses of all sizes. They train staff to follow safe food practices so you can avoid the potentially significant costs and reputational harm that can come from outbreaks of foodborne illness.
The level you need depends on your role.
No. Level 1 is not a prerequisite. You can start at the level that matches your role and responsibilities — so anyone who handles open food can go straight to Level 2, and experienced supervisors can start at Level 3.
Everyone involved in a food business shares responsibility for food safety. Employers must provide adequate training, facilities and procedures, while food handlers are responsible for following safe practices and maintaining high standards of hygiene in their day-to-day work.
Food hygiene is important because it prevents food contamination and the spread of foodborne illness, protecting public health. It also helps businesses meet their legal obligations, build customer trust and avoid the costs and reputational damage associated with poor food safety.
The pass mark for our food safety course assessments is 80%. For our Level 1 and Level 2 courses, the assessment is fully online and multiple choice, and you can retake it if you don’t pass first time.
The Level 3 course is made up of 10 modules. Each module has a knowledge test you must pass to move on, and you can retake these as many times as you like — they don’t count towards your final result. After completing all modules, you take the end-of-course assessment, which combines multiple-choice questions with case-study questions covering every module. You need 80% overall to pass and have two attempts; if you don’t pass on the second attempt, you’ll need to retake the course before attempting the assessment again.
Natasha’s Law requires food businesses to label food prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) with a full list of ingredients and clearly emphasised allergens. It came into force in October 2021 to give people with allergies clearer information and reduce the risk of a serious reaction.
Yes. Our Level 2 Food Safety courses for catering and manufacturing include a dedicated HACCP module that covers the seven HACCP principles and how to apply them. Because UK law requires food businesses to follow HACCP-based procedures, this is built into the Level 2 training rather than sold separately. Our Level 3 Food Safety Management course goes further, covering hazard analysis and how to design, run and monitor a HACCP-based management system.
Yes. Our courses are delivered in English with subtitles available in 20+ languages, including French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Polish.
You can download your certificate instantly as soon as you complete and pass the course, so there’s no waiting to prove your training is up to date.
