Food Safety for Food Service Employees/Certified Food Protection Manager

Food Education Courses

 

Employees at licensed food establishments who cook, prepare or handle food, or who wash dishes or clean food contact equipment, are required to complete and pass an approved food education course.

 

  1. All managerial and supervisory employees: prior to performing any supervisory tasks in the establishment.
  2. All regular employees at non-seasonal food establishments: within 30 days of the date when they begin working in the establishment.
  3. Seasonal employees (those that work seasonally at a non-seasonal food establishment or those that work at a seasonal or temporary food establishment) or any employee at a mobile food establishment: prior to performing any food handling tasks in the establishment.

2025 Classes

The Tuesday class is at 4:00 pm and the Wednesday class is at 9:00 am.  Participants must preregister.  The fee for the class is $15.00.

Must have at least 10 students registered, or class will be cancelled.

Tuesday, March 4th 4:00
Wednesday, March 5th  9:00

 

Tuesday, June 3rd  4:00
Wednesday, June 4th  9:00

 

Tuesday, September 2nd  4:00
Wednesday, September 3rd  9:00

 

Tuesday, December 2nd  4:00
Wednesday, December 3rd  9:00

Participants must pre-register for this class
Fee is $15 (non-refundable)

Approved Food Education Courses

 

Below is the current list of approved food education courses.  Be aware that there are food education courses available on the internet that claim to be approved for North Dakota but are not.  The only approved courses are those that are listed on this page.

 

  1. The First District Health Unit Food Safety class.  This class is held in the Minot office on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of March, May, July, September and November.  The Tuesday class is at 4:00 pm and the Wednesday class is at 9:00 am.  Participants must preregister.  The fee for the class is $15.00.
  2. The First District Health Unit Food Safety for Food Service Employees online course.  PLEASE NOTE: After viewing all 8 modules, you must make an appointment to complete the Food Safety Certification Test. To make an appointment in Minot, call 701.837.5121.  For appointments in other locations, call your local office directly.
  3. ServSafe Food Handler course: https://www.servsafe.com/
  4. Tacoma-Pierce County Do It Right, Serve It Safe! (available in English, Spanish, Korean, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Cambodian): https://www.foodworkercard.wa.gov/
  5. StateFoodSafety: https://www.statefoodsafety.com/
  6. TAP Series Food Handler Training: https://www.tapseries.io/Shop/FoodHandler/  (available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian and ASL)
  7. Food Safe Pal: https://foodsafepal.com/food-handler-card/north-dakota/

First District Health Unit Food Safety for Food Service Employees Online Training (by segment)

Food Safety Training for non-English Speaking Food Employees:

For those food employees that do not speak English, an approved food safety training is available in Spanish, Korean, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Cambodian at the following link:

Food Safety In Temporary Establishments:

 

This is the food safety class that is only valid for food employees at temporary food establishments.  This course is only valid for employees at those establishments that operate for 14 days or less at a single event.  If you have any questions about whether this course will fulfill your food education requirement, contact the Minot office and speak to an inspector.

 

After watching all four parts, an appointment must be made to take the test by calling the Minot office.

ND State Fair and Hostfest Food Safety Classes

The Food Safety in Temporary Establishments course is taught on site on the Thursday before the opening day of the North Dakota State Fair and on the Tuesday before the opening day of the Hostfest. The classes are located in the atrium on the second floor of the ND State Fair Center (across from the ticket offices). Just a reminder, all food employees (including those that are volunteers) that work at food establishments at the ND State Fair and at the Hostfest are required to have food safety cards prior to performing any tasks, and must have those cards on their person at all times while in the food establishment.

Certified Food Protection Manager

 

Certain food establishments located in the First District Health Unit are required to have a person in charge at all times who has taken and passed an approved Certified Food Protection Manager course. This requirement will apply to all establishments that are: 1) classified as risk level 2 or higher, and that 2) have 10 or more food employees.

 

The following courses are approved for meeting this requirement:

More information about accredited programs and for the most current list, click here.

Submitting a Food Education Course Approval Request.

 

If an individual wishes to have a food education course added to the list of approved courses, they must submit the following for approval

 

  1. The name of the course and the course instructor;
  2. The name of the organization that is sponsoring or hosting the course;
  3. Contact information for the instructor and host; and
  4. As much information as possible regarding the content of the course.

 

If an individual wishes to get approval for a course that they have already taken, but that does not appear on the approved courses list, they must:

 

  1. Provide the information found in 1 through 3 above;
  2. Detail the date, time and duration of the course they took; and
  3. Provide a complete description of the course including the topics covered, complete copies of all texts, resources and supplemental materials used in the class, and any other information deemed necessary by FDHU to complete an evaluation of the course.
  4. Be aware that there is no requirement for the FDHU to approve any food education course, and so any course approval request may be denied.  Also, simply submitting a course for approval does not negate the requirement for any food employee to have taken and passed an approved food education course.

 

For questions regarding approval of a food education course, or to begin the process of getting a course approved, contact Lisa Westman at ecotto@nd.gov or at 837-5124.