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About AFSI

The mission of the American Food Safety Institute (AFSI) is to:

  • prevent human death and suffering from foodborne disease through education and positive behavioral changes.
  • promote the food service industry through enhanced risk management and customer goodwill.
  • work in partnership with food protection regulators toward effective food protection training and certification programs in all jurisdictions that we serve.

How We Help

Headquarters near Philadelphia, PA, AFSI provides food manager training and certification courses that meet applicable health jurisdiction requirements in many areas throughout the Unites States. AFSI is the official training provider to the National Grocers Association . AFSI course materials are used by Cal State and many state and county health departments. AFSI also provides USDA, FDA, and custom HACCP courses, employee training (non-certification) courses, and food safety consulting. Our micro-grant program also supplies critical food safety tools for non-profit organizations at low or no cost.

In many areas, including the County of Los Angeles, training providers must obtain licensure and/or approval. AFSI is approved and licensed and meets applicable health department standards in areas it teaches. As a result, AFSI food manager certification is "portable", since it is recognized by most health departments.

AFSI's standard 1-day/8-hour courses are based on the FDA Food Code and teach critical food safety concetps and controls, which apply in virtually any retail food service environment. AFSI courses include a nationally-recognized (and state/county approved) examination at the end of the day. Study materials (in Spanish or English) are mailed to pre-registered students.

Our expert instruction, exclusive study materials, and focus on core safety issues make AFSI courses effective. On average, AFSI students achieve the nation's highest first-time passing rate -- over 90% -- on CFP/ANSI exams.

Nationally-Recognized Exams

AFSI uses only nationally-recognized exams. These exams (Prometric, ServSafe, and National Registry) are based on the FDA Food Code and are developed by Subject Matter Experts (SME's) active in the food protection industry. These experts follow valid, psychometrically-sound procedures in exam development and statistical analysis to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to demonstrate competency. Nationally-recognized exams are updated regularly to reflect changes in performance statistics, knowledge, and practice. AFSI staff have served as subject-matter experets for ServSafe and Experior exams.

For these reasons, the approval of only nationally-recognized exams protect regulatory authorities from inherent liability (such as discrimination) and ensure reciprocity across jurisdictional boundaries, which reduces the compliance burden on business.

Courses Available Throughout the U.S.

AFSI courses are available in many locations, on a variety of dates convenient to food service operators, including selected Sundays. AFSI can also provide private training for groups at a customer's site or at one of ours. Please call 1-(800) 723-3873 for more information and food manager course schedules.

More about us...

The American Food Safety Institute is an educational institution, which has been providing food-borne disease prevention training and certification since 1989. Our team of 20 health professionals is dedicated to preventing the estimated 9,000 needless deaths (FDA Food Code preface, 2018) caused by food-borne diseases each year. Our staff includes Physicians, Food Scientists, Registered/Licensed Dietitians (RD/LD), Health Officers (RS, REHS, CFSP, and CHO), Nurses, adult education professionals (MA, MEd), Executive Chefs, and customer service professionals.

AFSI also endeavors to prepare the food service owner and/or managers to fulfill their obligation to train their food service employees. A primary learning objective of every AFSI class is to help food service owners/managers become good "story tellers" and advise their employees how important key food safety practices really are. People must understand "why" as well as "what."

There have been extensive changes in the United States food supply during the past generation. "Factory farming" has replaced many family farms. AFSI supports the many industry and government agencies, which are working to reduce the pathogens (bad germs) out of our food. The key food safety practices of good personal hygiene, time & temperature control, preventing cross-contamination, cooking or consuming them within 7 days, "when in doubt, throw it out" and purchasing foods from safe sources must be practiced at all times.

The sad truth is, that failure to maintain critical food safety practices at home or at food service establishments still claim the lives of too many children, seniors, unborn children and the immuno-compromised. The good news is that foodborne illness declines as food safety education increases.

Please visit the areas of this website. If you are a consumer, simply click on "Home Food Safety" and print out the 10 food safety rules with our complements. If you are an industry professional, we invite you to consider attending one of our certification courses (see course schedules).

If you are considering taking any food safety-training course, we recommend that you find out the following information. Unfortunately, some states still do not have instructor licenses:

1. What is the instructor's background? Do they have a NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) or NEHA (National Environmental Health Association) credential?

All AFSI instructors are NEHA and/or NSF certified. Do you want to take a food safety class from someone who teaches accounting most of the time?

2. How long has the company been in business? Can they supply references? Are they licensed or approved by the health department?

We guarantee that AFSI is licensed and/or approved in every jurisdiction where it holds classes. The only US health jurisdiction that we know of that does not currently accept AFSI training with the CFP exam is New York City, which requires that managers can only qualify by passing their exam.

AFSI is proud to serve as trainers for many of the nations finest establishments and public health agencies (see references):

  • The New York State Department of Health
  • Philadelphia Department of Public Health
  • The State of Delaware Department of Health
  • The Massachusetts Health Officers Association
  • The first licensed food safety provider # 001, by the County of Los Angeles, CA

AFSI Serves Private Establishments including:

3. Does the training provider have business liability and malpractice insurance?

AFSI carries business liability insurance through State Farm and malpractice insurance through the Healthcare Providers Service Organization.

We hope that the information on this website will help you enjoy healthy eating.