Free CPD-Accredited Intermediate Certificate Course Equips Food Service Workers with the HACCP and FDA Food Code Compliance Skills That Professional Kitchens Demand
Alison has launched a new CPD-accredited certificate course: Food Safety and HACCP Compliance for Food Service Workers. This free intermediate-level online course equips food handlers, kitchen staff, supervisors, and food service managers with the complete food safety and HACCP compliance knowledge required to keep food safe at every stage — from receiving and storage through preparation, cooking, serving, and crisis management — grounded in FDA Food Code requirements and the seven HACCP principles. No cost, no barrier — just the science-based food safety knowledge that professional food service demands.
The course takes learners through the full food service safety pipeline: how biological, physical, and chemical hazards enter food and how to stop them; the FDA temperature danger zone and how to use it; active managerial control; correct procedures for purchasing, receiving, dry storage, and refrigerated storage; food preparation and serving standards; cleaning and sanitising protocols; facility management; and crisis response, including procedures for power outages and sewage backups. Every topic is grounded in FDA Food Code requirements and real workplace scenarios, making the knowledge immediately applicable to professional food service environments including restaurants, catering operations, healthcare food service, school nutrition programmes, and retail food settings.
The System That Stands Between Food Service and Foodborne Illness
The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points framework — HACCP — was developed in the 1960s for NASA's space programme, where even a single case of food poisoning in orbit could be catastrophic. It has since become the international standard for systematic food safety management, adopted by the FDA, the USDA, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and food safety regulators on every continent. At its core, HACCP is not a checklist — it is a science-based approach to identifying where hazards can enter a food system and establishing controls at exactly those points before harm occurs.
Despite its central importance, HACCP remains poorly understood by a large proportion of the people working in food service every day. The World Health Organization estimates that unsafe food causes 600 million cases of foodborne disease and 420,000 deaths annually worldwide. In the United States, the CDC reports approximately 48 million foodborne illness cases per year — with a significant and consistent proportion linked to commercial food service operations. The FDA's own inspection data consistently shows that the most frequently cited violations — improper temperature control, inadequate handwashing, cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat food — are precisely the hazards that HACCP is designed to prevent systematically, rather than reactively.
The problem is not that food service workers lack diligence. It is that the gap between receiving a food handler card and understanding the systematic framework that underpins professional food safety compliance has rarely been bridged by accessible, job-ready training. The seven HACCP principles, the FDA Food Code, active managerial control — these are the foundations of every professional food service operation, and they have been available, until now, primarily to those who could afford specialist courses or work for organisations large enough to fund internal training.
Compliance Knowledge as a Career Foundation
Mike Feerick, Founder and CEO of Alison, stated: "HACCP and FDA Food Code compliance are not optional extras for career food service workers — they are the baseline. Every supervisor, every manager, every professional who wants to advance in food service needs this knowledge, and there is no good reason why access to it should depend on who you work for or how much your employer is willing to invest in training. We are making it free."
This launch strengthens Alison's growing food safety portfolio, which now addresses the full spectrum of food safety needs — from kitchen hazard awareness and temporary event operations to HACCP compliance and allergen management — reinforcing its mission to make essential professional knowledge freely accessible to workers everywhere.
To learn more or enrol in the course, visit: alison.com/course/food-safety-and-haccp-compliance-for-food-service-workers
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About Alison
Alison is a global leader in free online learning and skills development. With over 50 million registered learners across 193 countries (as of October 2025), Alison empowers individuals, communities, and organisations to upskill quickly and effectively – at zero cost.
The Alison platform provides immediate access to over 6,000 free, CPD-accredited courses, covering essential areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Digital Marketing, Project Management, Business Operations, Healthcare and Sustainability. Courses are created by a mix of independent experts and global leaders, including IBM, Stanford and Microsoft.
For organisations, Alison offers a Free Learning Management System (LMS) that enables unlimited learners to access thousands of courses with no upfront cost. A premium version with advanced analytics and customisation is also available. Alison's offering includes a full suite of assessments and psychometric tools, including a Workplace Personality Assessment, Mental Health & Wellbeing Assessment, English Language Proficiency Test, as well as Numerical, Verbal, and Abstract Reasoning tests.
To further support career development, learners also gain access to a Career Guide, a Resumé Builder, and the ability to study offline through the Alison App. The platform is also expanding its reach with multilingual versions, starting with complete Spanish, French, and Hindi offerings — reaffirming its mission to make education accessible to anyone, anywhere.
Founded in 2007, Alison pioneered the concept of free, large-scale online learning and is recognised as the world’s first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platform. Today, its mission continues: to break down barriers to learning, helping people gain skills, build confidence, and improve their lives — no matter where they live or what they earn.
