The Nova Scotia Government enacted new Food Safety Regulations under the authority of the Health Protection Act on November 1, 2005.

The Food Safety Regulations are based on a National Food Service and Food Retail Regulation and can be viewed by visiting http://www.gov.ns.ca/just/regulations/regs/Hpafdsaf.htm. A companion document entitled, The Nova Scotia Food Retail and Food Service Code, was created at the same time and provides direction to food service establishments in interpreting and complying with the requirements of the Regulations. It can be viewed at http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/foodsafety/NSFoodCode.pdf

One of the major initiatives found in the new Regulations is mandatory food hygiene training. Although the Regulations came into force in November of 2005, transitional provisions allowed a phase in period until November 1, 2007 for operators to comply with this training component.

Section 28 is stated as follows:

Food hygiene training
28 (1) An operator must successfully complete a food hygiene training program recognized by the Administrator and provide proof of this to the Administrator upon request.

(2) If an operator is absent from a food establishment, the operator must ensure that a member of the personnel who has successfully completed a food hygiene training program recognized by the Administrator is present.

(3) A person in a food establishment who comes into contact with food must
(a) be trained or instructed in food hygiene to a level appropriate to the activity that the person performs; and
(b) provide confirmation of their training to an inspector on request.

The following interpretations of key phrase or terms contained in Section 28 are offered as clarification:

Operator: Operator means a person who holds a permit to operate a food establishment.

For the purposes of Section 28 (1), Operator is further interpreted as a person who maintains on site operational control of the facility if not the Permit holder.

Proof: For the purposes of Section 28 (1), proof means that the original or a copy of a current and valid certificate indicating successful completion of a food hygiene training program recognized by the Administrator be present on site for review by the Food Safety Specialist. In this context, current refers to a certificate issued within the last five years.

Present: For the purposes of Section 28 (2), present means that a person who has successfully completed a food hygiene training course recognized by the Administrator must be on site within the confines of the food preparation area so as to be capable of exercising continuous care and control of food safety operations.

Level appropriate: For the purposes of Section 28 (3) (a); level appropriate means that an employee has been instructed in food safety to the degree necessary to safely perform their assigned tasks; i.e dishwashing, salad preparation, etc

Provide confirmation: For the purposes of Section 28 (3) (b); provide confirmation means a acknowledgment by the participant that he or she have been trained in food safety to the level appropriate to their designated activity

Information on scheduled Dept. of Agriculture food hygiene courses across the province may be viewed by visiting http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/foodsafety/

This site also contains a document entitled "Food Hygiene Training Courses Currently Recognized by The Nova Scotia Food Hygiene Training Review Board" which identifies other options for food hygiene training and will be updated periodically.

Should there be inquiries regarding food hygiene training, courses or this document, please contact your local Food Safety Specialist for further discussion.

Food Safety Specialist contact information may be found by visiting the staff directory or by contacting your local office or 902-424-1173.