Who is considered a food handler?

The definition in the Code

Standard 3.2.2 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code defines a food handler as a person who directly engages in the handling of food, or who handles surfaces likely to come into contact with food, for a food business. That wording is deliberately broad, and it catches people who would never describe themselves as working in food.

The second half matters as much as the first. Someone who never touches food but washes the chopping boards, wipes the benches or stacks clean plates is handling food-contact surfaces, and is therefore a food handler with the same hygiene obligations as the chef.

Roles that count

In practice this covers most of the people in a food business, paid or not. Volunteers at a school canteen, a sports club or a community kitchen are food handlers too — the Code is about the activity, not the employment arrangement.

• Chefs, cooks, kitchen hands and apprentices
• Baristas, waitstaff and bar staff who handle garnishes, ice or plated food
• Canteen and tuckshop staff and volunteers
• Food court, takeaway and food truck staff
• Supermarket deli, bakery and salad-bar staff
• Aged care, childcare, hospital and school kitchen staff
• Caterers, market stallholders and event food crews
• Cleaners and dishwashers who handle food-contact surfaces

Food handler is not the same as Food Safety Supervisor

Being a food handler is a description of what you do. A Food Safety Supervisor is a specific, formally recognised role that certain food businesses must appoint, with its own certification requirements that vary by state. Every Food Safety Supervisor is a food handler; very few food handlers are Food Safety Supervisors.

Food Handler Academy issues a private food handler certificate of completion. It shows you have completed and been tested on food handler training — it is not a Food Safety Supervisor certificate and does not replace one.