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Alberta Food Handler overview

Alberta food safety study guide: the rules on all 10 topics

Free Alberta food safety study guide: our plain-language notes on the Food Regulation and the Food Retail and Foodservices Code, organised by topic, each linked to its practice questions.

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  • 10 topics
  • 159 key points
  • Free, no sign-up

This study guide collects our notes on every topic of Alberta food handler certification on one page: short points in our own words, grouped by topic and by source. Read it from top to bottom before your first practice test, or jump to a topic from the list below.

Each topic ends with a link to its practice questions and a link to the official source for the full wording. The notes summarise Alberta's Food Regulation and the Government of Alberta's Food Retail and Foodservices Code; they are not any provider's course, and where our notes and the official source differ, the official source wins.

Study these notes as flashcards →

Alberta food safety law and training

Food handling permits, the Food Regulation's training requirement by number of food handlers, exempt premises, recognized courses, displaying the permit, plan approval and permit suspension or cancellation.

Practise Alberta food safety law and training questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

s. 1 Definitions

  • A food handler is anyone who handles food, utensils or equipment; "handle" covers supplying, selling, processing, preparing, packaging, displaying, serving, dispensing, storing or transporting food meant for the public.
  • Food includes water and ice meant for human consumption.
  • A handwashing station has a hand basin with hot and cold running water, soap nearby, and single-service towels or a mechanical hand dryer.

ss. 3 to 14 Permits

  • No one may operate a food establishment without a valid permit naming the establishment as approved by the regional health authority (Alberta Health Services).
  • No permit is needed for a community organization function, free promotional samples, a stall at a farmers' market, a temporary food establishment at a special event, or low-risk home-prepared food; but the food handling rules still apply.
  • One permit covers only one food establishment; a mobile food establishment's permit is valid across Alberta.
  • A permit lasts no longer than one year and cannot be transferred (except that a deceased operator's representative may continue for 12 months if conditions are met).
  • The permit holder must tell the health authority in writing about changes to the application information or major renovations.
  • Charities, sellers of only pre-packaged low-risk foods, social care facilities for more than 10 people and bed and breakfasts are exempt from permit fees.
  • The permit must be displayed in a conspicuous place where customers can easily see it; caterers must have it available for inspection.
  • A permit may be suspended for unsanitary conditions or any contravention of the Public Health Act, its regulations or the permit conditions, even without a prosecution, and cancelled if the problem is not fixed.
  • Plans and specifications must be approved by an executive officer (health inspector) before building or altering a commercial food establishment (s. 16).

s. 31 Food safety training

  • With 5 or fewer food handlers working, the operator must make sure at least one person who has care and control of the establishment holds a food sanitation and hygiene certificate issued by the Minister, or an equivalent the Minister accepts.
  • With 6 or more food handlers working, at least one member of management or supervisory staff must hold the certificate and be present at the establishment at that time.
  • The rule does not apply where only unpackaged low-risk food is offered, or where all food arrives pre-packaged and is sold in the same form.

Recognized food safety courses in Alberta (updated July 2026)

  • Courses approved by the Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services to meet section 31 include classroom and online courses from many providers, such as Alberta Health Services' Food Sanitation and Hygiene course, ServSafe, NAIT, SAIT and Restaurants Canada's NFSTP.
  • The course and exam format is set by each approved provider; the government list does not set one exam length or pass mark.

Take a Course (Environmental Public Health)

  • AHS's Food Safety Alberta Certification meets the Food Regulation training requirement; it is aimed at owners, managers and supervisors and is offered in a classroom as a one-day or two-day course.
  • AHS's online Alberta Food Safety Basics course is for front-line food workers, serving staff, volunteers and others who want basic food safety knowledge.

s. 6.2, 6.3 Training

  • Every operator must make sure food handlers have the knowledge and skills to handle food hygienically.
  • Mandatory education programs are aimed at managers and supervisors, or a designated person in their absence.
  • Studies cited by the Code show food handling improves for about six months after training and then can slip back, so ongoing training is recommended.

Foodborne illness and high-risk foods

What makes a food potentially hazardous, examples of high-, medium- and low-risk foods, contamination, people most at risk, and the bacteria the Food Code highlights.

Practise Foodborne illness and high-risk foods questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

s. 1 Definitions

  • Contamination means foreign matter (including filth or pests), poisonous substances, disease-causing micro-organisms, parasites, toxins, or anything that might make food unsafe.
  • High-risk food has a pH or water activity that supports the growth of disease-causing micro-organisms or their toxins; low-risk food generally will not support that growth without temperature control.

Appendix A Potentially hazardous foods

  • Potentially hazardous foods can support rapid growth of infectious or toxin-producing micro-organisms: milk and dairy products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, tofu products and sprouts, plus some cream-filled baked goods and some vegetables.
  • Foods with a pH of 4.6 or below, or a water activity of 0.85 or below, are not considered potentially hazardous.
  • High-risk foods are non-acidic or slightly acidic, moist protein foods, such as meat, dairy, eggs, poultry, fish, tofu, sprouts, gravies, puddings, custards, cream-filled pastries, mayonnaise-based salads, cream soups and sauces, and unpasteurized juice, cider and cheese.
  • Medium-risk foods need one control step such as proper cold holding: packaged vegetables, cooked cereals, soft cheeses, meat sandwich spreads.
  • Low-risk foods: bread, crackers, peanut butter, butter, dry cereals and foods in unopened cans or pouches.

s. 3.1.3 Control principles (risk)

  • Higher-risk customers include the elderly, young children and people with weakened immune systems; they resist foodborne illness less and may have more severe outcomes.
  • Higher-risk operations include large-volume kitchens, full-service kitchens, large menus, complicated multi-step recipes and catering.
  • Processes known to contribute to foodborne illness include bulk cooling, preparing items well ahead of service, bulk cooking and preparing raw and cooked foods at the same time.

s. 3.3 rationales

  • Freezing stops microbial growth but does not destroy all micro-organisms.
  • Excessive cooling time is consistently one of the leading causes of foodborne illness.
  • Clostridium perfringens can survive cooking as spores and multiply quickly in meat, poultry or gravy held just below hot-holding temperature; proper reheating reduces it.
  • Seafood is kept at 3.3 °C or colder to prevent growth and toxin production by C. botulinum.
  • Reheated foods can support pathogens more than raw foods because cooking kills the competing spoilage bacteria.

s. 5.8 Illness and disease

  • Symptoms of an acute gastro-intestinal illness include diarrhea, fever, vomiting, jaundice and sore throat with fever.

Temperature control

Cold holding at 4 °C or less, hot holding at 60 °C or more, the danger zone, frozen food, shell eggs and seafood, the two-hour room temperature rule and thermometers.

Practise Temperature control questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

s. 25 Storage, display and transportation

  • High-risk food must be stored, displayed and transported at 4 °C or colder, or at 60 °C or hotter, unless a health inspector (executive officer) approves other temperatures.
  • Food that must be frozen to stay fit to eat must stay frozen while stored, displayed, packaged or transported.
  • Whole raw shell eggs must be kept at 7 °C or colder.

s. 18 Equipment

  • Refrigeration and hot-holding equipment must be big enough for the establishment, able to keep the required temperatures and fitted with an accurate thermometer.

s. 3.3 Temperature control

  • All temperatures are internal product temperatures unless the product is frozen.
  • Frozen foods must be kept at 0 °C or colder; −18 °C or colder keeps their quality.
  • All potentially hazardous food, including food prepared and cooled to be served cold, is stored at 4 °C or colder; seafood at 3.3 °C.
  • Hot food is held at 60 °C or hotter.
  • The temperature "danger zone" is between 4 °C and 60 °C; the time food spends in it affects safety and shelf life.
  • Potentially hazardous food meant for immediate consumption may be held at room temperature (not on ice) for no more than 2 hours, then must be thrown out; it must be marked with the time it was taken out of temperature control.

s. 4.1.11 and 4.1.12 Thermometers

  • Equipment that cooks, cools, stores or freezes potentially hazardous food needs devices to monitor and control temperature.
  • Thermometers must be easy to read, accurate to ±1 °C and calibrated regularly, with calibration records kept.
  • Food thermometers should not have glass sensors or stems unless in a shatterproof sleeve.

s. 42 (temporary food establishments)

  • Probe thermometers and cold-storage thermometers must be used to check storage and preparation temperatures.

Thawing, cooking, cooling and reheating

Safe thawing methods, minimum internal cooking temperatures, two-stage cooling, reheating to 74 °C, microwave cooking and freezing fish for parasites.

Practise Thawing, cooking, cooling and reheating questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

s. 3.3.2 Thawing

  • Thaw potentially hazardous food quickly or in a way that prevents rapid bacterial growth: in the refrigerator at 4 °C or less, completely under cold running water, as part of cooking (if the cooking time allows for it) or in a microwave.
  • If thawed portions are above 4 °C, the total time above 4 °C, including preparation and cooling back below 4 °C, must not exceed 4 hours.
  • Frozen ready-to-eat seafood is thawed at 3.3 °C or less.

s. 3.3.4 and Appendix B Cooking

  • Raw foods of animal origin must reach the minimum internal temperatures and times in Appendix B in all parts, stirring mixtures so every part heats.
  • Food mixtures containing poultry, eggs, meat, fish or other potentially hazardous foods: 74 °C for at least 15 seconds.
  • Poultry: 74 °C for 15 seconds. Stuffing in or containing poultry, fish or meat: 74 °C for 15 seconds.
  • Ground meat (chopped, ground, flaked or minced beef, pork or fish): 71 °C for 15 seconds.
  • Eggs: 63 °C for 15 seconds. Fish: 68 °C for 15 seconds. Rare roast beef: 63 °C for 4 minutes.
  • The same lethality can be reached at lower temperatures held longer: a beef roast at 54 °C for 121 minutes equals 63 °C for 3 minutes.
  • Where raw or lightly cooked foods are served (raw oysters, steak tartare, raw-egg shakes), customers should be told about the increased risk.

s. 3.3.6 and 3.3.7 Cooling

  • Cooked potentially hazardous food is cooled from 60 °C to 20 °C within 2 hours, then from 20 °C to 4 °C within the next 4 hours.
  • Food prepared at room temperature (including from canned or reconstituted ingredients) must be cooled to 4 °C within 4 hours.
  • Large items such as roasts, turkeys and big pots of rice cool slowly; dividing food into smaller containers speeds cooling. Refrigerators are designed to hold cold food, not to cool large masses.

s. 3.3.9 to 3.3.11 Reheating and microwaves

  • Cooked and cooled food reheated for hot holding must reach 74 °C or higher, passing through the danger zone as quickly as possible.
  • Food that has been cooled, reheated and cooled again must be reheated to 74 °C with no more than 2 hours in total between 4 °C and 74 °C.
  • Food cooled once may be served immediately at any temperature if it spends no more than 2 hours between 4 °C and 60 °C.
  • In a microwave, rotate or stir the food during cooking, heat all parts to at least 74 °C, and let it stand covered for at least 2 minutes; check the temperature in several places.

s. 3.3.12 Freezing for parasites

  • Fish to be eaten raw or partly cooked must be frozen to −20 °C or below for 7 days, or to −35 °C until solid and stored at −35 °C for 15 hours.

Receiving and storing food

Approved and unapproved food sources, inspecting deliveries, what to reject, keeping invoices and seafood tags, refrigerator order, storing chemicals and other non-food items.

Practise Receiving and storing food questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

s. 22 Approved sources

  • Food that by law must be inspected by Canada or Alberta (for example meat) must come from an inspected source.
  • A health authority may allow uninspected wild game for wild game dinners or for non-profits that feed people in need.

s. 3.2 Incoming material

  • All food and ingredients must come from approved sources, especially potentially hazardous foods (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk), food in hermetically sealed containers and farmed game.
  • Food prepared in a private home or other unapproved place may not be used in a commercial food establishment.
  • Inspect deliveries visually when they arrive and move acceptable items into storage quickly.
  • Keep invoices, receipts and lot codes for 90 days to trace unlabelled or split products in a recall; keep seafood tags for at least 90 days after use.
  • Reject or segregate unsafe deliveries: signs of pests, cracked shell eggs, badly dented or bulging cans, leaking or broken containers, torn or removed tamper-evident seals, and anything temperature-abused.

s. 3.5.1 (j) Refrigerator order

  • Ready-to-eat food and raw vegetables must not be stored below raw meat and fish in the refrigerator.

s. 20; Food Code s. 3.5.2 and 4.4 Non-food items and chemicals

  • Articles not needed for food operations are stored separately so they contaminate neither food nor food areas.
  • Chemicals and cleansers are kept in clearly labelled containers not meant for food, stored to prevent contamination; the Code adds a separate compartment, lockable where appropriate, and use only as the manufacturer directs.

s. 3.4 Water and ice

  • Only potable (drinkable) water, steam or ice may touch food; ice used to chill the outside of containers must not be used as food.

s. 3.6 Packaging

  • Food must be packaged in food-grade packaging that protects it, and packaging supplies stored to prevent contamination.

Preventing contamination and allergens

Keeping raw and ready-to-eat food apart, no bare-hand contact, washing produce, protecting self-serve food, tasting spoons, re-serving food, returned food and the priority food allergens.

Practise Preventing contamination and allergens questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

ss. 23 and 27

  • All food must be protected from contamination and handled in a sanitary way; contaminated or unfit food must not be served, sold, processed, displayed or stored for eating.
  • Food already served may be re-served only if it is low-risk, uncontaminated, and either served each time in a container designed to prevent contamination or individually packaged, unopened and untampered.

s. 3.5.1 Microbial contamination

  • Restrict access to food preparation areas to designated food handlers as much as possible.
  • Self-serve food (other than unprocessed produce) must be protected by packaging, display cases or sneeze guards and provided with suitable utensils.
  • Avoid touching exposed ready-to-eat food with bare hands; use clean, sanitized tongs, spatulas, disposable gloves or other dispensers.
  • Keep raw or unprocessed food separate from ready-to-eat food.
  • Wash raw fruits and vegetables thoroughly in potable water before cutting, combining, cooking or serving them ready to eat (whole produce sold for customers to wash themselves is exempt).
  • Never let food touch utensils or equipment that have not been cleaned and sanitized; clean and sanitize a tasting utensil before each use.
  • Food returned by a customer may not be sold to another customer unless it is low-risk and still in its unopened original package (such as creamers, crackers or condiments).

s. 3.5.2 and Appendix C Allergens

  • Operators should know the common food allergens, which can be life-threatening; if a customer asks, provide the ingredient list and suggest they consult their physician.
  • Priority allergens listed: peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, seafood (fish, crustaceans, shellfish), soy, wheat, mustard and sulphites.
  • Undeclared allergens can come from incomplete cleaning of surfaces and utensils (carry-over), recipe substitutions not reflected on labels, or wrong labels.

s. 4.2.5 (d) Wiping cloths

  • Cloths used to wipe food-contact surfaces should not be used for other jobs such as wiping raw animal foods, and should be kept in sanitizing solution between uses.

s. 42 (temporary food establishments)

  • Food-contact surfaces are washed and sanitized at least daily and between handling raw and cooked foods on the same surface; self-serve condiments come from squeeze or pump containers or self-closing lids.

Personal hygiene and illness

The Food Regulation's duties for food handlers, when and how to wash hands, hair restraints, aprons, jewellery, smoking, illness symptoms that keep you off food work, wounds and visitors.

Practise Personal hygiene and illness questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

s. 30 Food handlers: hygiene and health

  • A food handler must wear clean clothing and footwear, be clean and practise good personal hygiene, keep hair from contaminating food, wash hands as often as needed to prevent contamination, not smoke in a food area, and avoid any other conduct that could contaminate food.
  • A person must not work as a food handler while excluded under the Communicable Diseases Regulation.
  • The operator is responsible for making sure these rules are followed, and handwashing stations must be maintained and kept supplied.

s. 5.1 to 5.7

  • Food handlers should be trained in safe food handling for their level of responsibility, with regular review sessions.
  • Wear clean outer garments and change soiled clothing; remove a soiled apron when moving from raw food to ready-to-eat work.
  • Anyone in a food preparation or storage area wears a hair restraint such as a clean hat or hair net; beards are covered with beard nets where required.
  • Wash hands after sneezing or touching hair, eyes, mouth or nose, before going back to food work.
  • Do not smoke while handling food, utensils or food surfaces.
  • Wash hands before starting work and after using the washroom, after a break, after eating or snacking, after handling raw food and any time hands may be soiled.
  • A thorough handwash means rubbing lathered hands and exposed arms vigorously for at least 20 seconds, then rinsing well with warm clean water; a nailbrush and attention to fingertips and between fingers are recommended, especially after using the washroom.
  • Remove watches, rings and jewellery before working with food; do not wear loose jewellery that could fall into food.

s. 5.8 Illness and disease

  • The operator must make sure everyone who touches food is free of symptoms of illness or communicable disease that can spread through food; managers may exclude a sick worker from food handling or send them home.
  • Employees with a communicable disease that spreads through food must tell management; temporarily ill employees take leave or are moved to work where they cannot contaminate food.
  • Returning after illness, especially a diagnosed reportable disease, a food handler should have written clearance from their doctor.
  • A person is generally considered to have a communicable disease if they have symptoms of acute gastro-intestinal illness (diarrhea, fever, vomiting, jaundice, sore throat with fever), are linked to a confirmed outbreak, or live with someone diagnosed with a communicable disease.

s. 5.9 and 5.10 Injuries and visitors

  • People with open, draining wounds should not handle food: on hands or wrists only with an impermeable cover and a single-use glove; on arms only with an impermeable cover; elsewhere with a dry, tight bandage.
  • Workers with cuts or bandages must wear vinyl gloves or not handle food at all.
  • Visitors to food preparation areas follow the same hygiene and dress rules, including handwashing and hair restraints, and stay away from food.

Cleaning and sanitizing

Written sanitation procedures, the steps of cleaning, sanitizer strengths, the three-compartment sink, dishwasher temperatures, wiping cloths, slicers, cutting boards and single-service items.

Practise Cleaning and sanitizing questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

ss. 28 and 29

  • The establishment, equipment, utensils and food-contact surfaces must be kept sanitary and washed and sanitized in a way that removes contamination; equipment must be in good working order.
  • Single-service utensils must not be used more than once.
  • Every commercial food establishment must have written cleaning and sanitizing procedures, including procedures for equipment not washed in a dishwasher and a list of every cleaning and sanitizing agent with its concentration and use.

s. 4.2.1 to 4.2.5

  • The written sanitation program names the areas and items to clean, who cleans them, the chemicals and concentrations, the procedure, how often, and the monitoring records.
  • Equipment used continuously at room temperature for potentially hazardous food (such as a deli slicer) is cleaned and sanitized at least every four hours.
  • Cleaning means removing debris, washing with detergent, rinsing, then sanitizing; cleaning removes soil, sanitizing reduces micro-organisms.
  • A surface is effectively sanitized when disease-causing micro-organisms are reduced by 5 log (99.999 per cent).
  • After sanitizing, handle surfaces in a sanitary way and let them air-dry; towel-drying can re-contaminate them.

s. 4.2.6 and 4.2.7 Dishwashing machines

  • Chemical dishwashers: chlorine at 25 mg/L needs at least 49 °C; 50 mg/L needs 38 °C (pH 8 to 10) or 24 °C (pH 8 or less); 100 mg/L needs 13 °C. Iodine: 12.5 to 25 mg/L at 20 °C or more. Quaternary ammonium: 200 mg/L (or as labelled) at 24 °C or more, in water softer than 500 mg/L.
  • Check water temperature and sanitizer strength often with test strips kept near the dishwasher, and keep records.
  • Hot-water sanitizing dishwashers: final rinse of at least 10 seconds at 82 °C (74 °C for stationary-rack single-temperature machines).

s. 4.2.8 Manual dishwashing (three-compartment sink)

  • Scrape dishes; wash in detergent at 45 °C or hotter in the first sink; rinse in clean water at 45 °C or hotter in the second; sanitize in the third.
  • Sanitize for at least 2 minutes by one of: water at 77 °C or hotter; chlorine at 100 to 200 mg/L at 45 °C or hotter; quaternary ammonium not over 200 mg/L at 45 °C; iodine not over 25 mg/L at 45 °C.
  • Air-dry if possible, change solutions often, and test temperatures and sanitizer strength frequently. A thermometer reading 0 to 100 °C and sanitizer test kit are part of the equipment.

s. 4.1.5 and 4.1.10 Cutting surfaces

  • Wood is not recommended for cutting, especially meat and poultry; only hard maple or similar hard, close-grained wood is acceptable for cutting boards, bakers' tables and rolling pins.
  • Scratched or scored cutting boards are resurfaced if they can no longer be cleaned and sanitized, or thrown out.

Pests, premises and equipment

Keeping premises free of pests, pest-control records, corrective action, insect devices, garbage, building and handwashing station requirements, equipment surfaces and animals in food premises.

Practise Pests, premises and equipment questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

s. 21 Pests

  • A commercial food establishment must be kept free of pests and of conditions where pests can live or breed; surrounding areas, outdoor food areas and mobile units must be kept reasonably free of them.
  • A written record of all pest control measures must be kept.
  • Pests include rodents, cockroaches, flies and other insects or vermin, and other animals that harm sanitary operation (s. 1).

s. 4.3 Pest management

  • When birds, rodents or insects are found, act at once: inspect and discard any adulterated food, remove filth, check cleaning, clean and sanitize contaminated surfaces, destroy and seal nests and breeding places, and pest-proof the building.
  • Electric insect killers must be at least 2 metres from any food handling area, with an escape-resistant trap, emptied and cleaned regularly; sticky traps must be placed so insects cannot fall onto food and changed regularly.
  • Uncontrolled pests are eradicated by a certified pest control operator using approved chemicals; integrated pest management with the least chemical use is encouraged.
  • Rodenticides and insecticides should not be applied while food is being prepared; in 24-hour operations use traps and non-spray methods and protect open food.
  • Records include the pest control operator's name, chemicals and concentrations, methods, frequency and monitoring.
  • Waste and recyclables are removed often enough to avoid odours and pests, generally daily.

ss. 16 to 18 Construction and equipment

  • Before operating, the establishment must be soundly built and in good repair, easy to clean, with food areas separated from living quarters, enough conveniently placed handwashing stations, hot and cold safe running water, a lawful sewage system, adequate lighting and ventilation, and construction that controls the entry of pests.
  • Equipment, utensils and food-contact surfaces must be suitable, durable, easily cleanable and free of harmful substances.

s. 32 Live animals

  • No live animals in a commercial food establishment, except service animals as the law allows, dogs on a patio (if they reach it without entering an interior food area and are on a leash, in a carrier or otherwise restrained), and animals an executive officer authorizes.

Special events, community functions and home food

Temporary food establishments at special events, community organization functions, bed and breakfasts and low-risk home-prepared food sold under Alberta's Food Regulation.

Practise Special events, community functions and home food questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Part 4 Special events and temporary food establishments (ss. 37 to 45)

  • The organizer of a special event must notify the health authority and tell each temporary food vendor to notify it too; vendors must notify the health authority before operating.
  • The organizer must hold the event in a dry, well-maintained area and protect potable water lines with backflow preventers.
  • A temporary food establishment must be set up at least one hour before the event starts, with smooth, non-absorbent, cleanable food surfaces, all equipment except barbecues inside it, barbecues in a segregated area the public cannot reach, and food areas separated from the public.
  • It needs a handwashing station with running water (at minimum a jug with a turnable spout over a waste bucket), paper towels and liquid soap, or an approved hand sanitizer alternative.
  • Waste water must be collected and disposed of sanitarily, never dumped on the ground; waste water tanks hold at least 110% of the potable water supply; garbage containers are lined and emptied at least at the end of each day.
  • Events longer than one day need non-absorbent floors (asphalt, concrete, finished plywood) and walls and ceilings; events longer than 3 days need plumbed water, a sink large enough to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils, hot water, and water lines flushed for 2 minutes each morning.
  • Food handling: protect food from dust, rain and pests; use probe and cold-storage thermometers; give patrons single-service utensils unless approved otherwise; keep an approved sanitizer and a way to test its strength; dispense self-serve condiments from squeeze, pump or self-closing containers; keep food and utensils off the ground; wash and sanitize food-contact surfaces at least daily and between raw and cooked foods; use inspected sources; no home-prepared foods (other than low-risk home-prepared food vendors under s. 42.1).

Part 5 Community organization functions (ss. 46 to 50)

  • A community organization function is an occasional public event run by a non-profit (such as a church, service club or sports team) to raise funds, with food from volunteer caterers, such as fall suppers or wild game dinners.
  • The organizer must notify the health authority; a function may run more than 2 days only with written permission.
  • Food not prepared in an approved establishment must be prepared and donated by members of the organization, and attendees must be told such food is being served.
  • Unpasteurized milk, uninspected meat (except permitted wild game) and unfit food may not be used or served; leftovers are thrown out or taken home by members; pets are kept out of food areas.

Part 6 Bed and breakfasts (ss. 51, 52)

  • A bed and breakfast (owner-occupied home serving overnight guests, up to 8 registered guests at a time) needs a permit; food must come from approved sources, and no home-canned food other than jam, jelly and pickles may be served.
  • A food-grade thermometer is kept in the refrigerator and checked regularly; liquid soap and paper towels are at the kitchen sink; pets are kept out of food and dining areas during service.

Part 6.1 Low-risk home-prepared food (ss. 52.1, 52.2)

  • Low-risk home-prepared food is low-risk food made in the operator's own home, containing no meat, poultry, seafood or unpasteurized milk.
  • It may be sold from the home or at a special event, but may not be resold or used as an ingredient in food for sale.
  • Labels must state that the food was prepared in a home kitchen not subject to inspection and is not for resale, plus the operator's name and contact, the product name and the preparation date (not required for unprocessed horticultural products).
  • At special events, the food must be packaged and the vendor needs access to handwashing or hand sanitizer; free individually portioned samples are allowed.

Written in our own words from: Alberta Food Regulation and Food Retail and Foodservices Code

FAQ

Alberta food safety study guide: common questions

What is the best way to use this study guide?

Read one topic, then answer that topic's practice questions while the rules are fresh. Note the questions you miss, re-read those notes, and finish with a full mock exam.

Is this an official Alberta food safety manual?

No. It is our own summary of the Food Regulation and the Food Code. Your course provider's materials and the official texts are the reference for the exact wording.

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