Level 2 Food Hygiene Course for Catering

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This Virtual College Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene for Catering Certificate is designed for anyone who works with, or handles food and wants to meet the UK food training requirements. In this online food hygiene course you'll learn about the impact of food-borne illnesses, food safety hazards and contamination, food preservation, storage and temperature control, as well as HACCP.
This course meets UK/EU Food Hygiene Training Requirements.
Course Level: Level 2
12 Modules (Duration: 2-3 CPD Hours)
Accreditation: CPD Certified, RoSPA Assured
Certificate: Self printed or posted
Last Updated: 20th November 2023
Description
Anyone who works in catering or hospitality needs to be aware of the latest food hygiene standards.
Knowing how to clean and disinfect equipment, safely store and prepare food, and control common pests will allow you to handle food safely and ensure that you’re complying with all of the relevant health and safety standards.
Our popular Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene for Catering course has been re-designed and includes all the latest legislation, information and up-to-date guidance.
We also offer sector-specific Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene Certificates for: Manufacturing | Drinks Manufacturers | Retail.
This Level 2 Food Safety & Hygiene Certificate for Catering course satisfies a food handler’s legal obligation to undertake appropriate food safety training.
A sound knowledge of the latest food safety principles will also improve the quality of your product or service whether you’re a self-employed caterer, a chef, a waiter, or any other role within the catering industry.
This RoSPA Assured Level 2 Food Hygiene course is designed to provide an individual or an organisation with the very latest food safety and hygiene training. Alongside information dedicated to explaining the basics of food hygiene, it contains lessons dedicated to:
- Food safety hazards and contamination
- Food preservation
- Storage and temperature control
- Legislation that governs food handling
- Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
We've completely refreshed our Level 2 Food Hygiene for Catering course with the latest guidance and legislation. Learn through bite-sized modules that fit around your schedule, with interactive content that brings food safety to life. Whether you're new to catering or updating your skills, you'll gain practical knowledge you can use straight away in your kitchen.
Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene for Catering Certificate
At the end of this food hygiene course, you will need to complete a test that consists of 30 multiple choice questions. Learners are required to achieve a 75% pass mark, and - if necessary - may attempt the test three times at no extra cost. If learners do not achieve the 75% pass mark, further attempts may be given by contacting our support team.
Posted & Digital Food Hygiene Certificate
Upon completing the food and hygiene course, learners will be able to download a digital food hygiene certificate from Virtual College. If you have bought the posted food hygiene certificate option, a high quality, seal embossed, certificate will be sent out the following working week after completion.
This certification is universally recognised and can be used to provide evidence of food hygiene and safety training both internally and to external auditors.
There is no set time for how long a certificate is valid for, but the accepted industry standard is for food hygiene certificates to be renewed every three years. However, some employers may require you to renew your certification more frequently than this.
This online food hygiene course is not a formal RQF food safety & hygiene qualification, the levels only indicate the type of food and hygiene course so that businesses can choose whom it is suitable for.
Do you own a catering business? Ensure your food safety compliance
As a food business owner, you're legally required to make sure all your food handlers have appropriate food safety training. After all, proper food hygiene training protects your customers, your reputation and your business. Virtual College makes doing that simple.
Our Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene for Catering Certificate gives your staff the essential skills they need to handle food safely and meet UK legal requirements. But different roles need different levels of training. Here's what we recommend:
- Front-line food handlers | Level 2 Food Hygiene
Perfect for chefs, kitchen assistants, waiters and anyone who handles food directly. This course covers all the basics of safe food handling, storage and preparation.
- Supervisors and managers | Level 3 Food Safety and Hygiene
For kitchen managers, head chefs and supervisors. Dive deeper into food safety management systems, staff training and maintaining high standards across your team.
- New starters | Level 1 Food Safety and Hygiene
A great introduction for new staff or anyone who needs food safety awareness but doesn't handle food directly. Also useful for business owners who want to understand the fundamentals.
Make training your kitchen staff simple
Keep your catering business fully compliant with our all-access training subscription. Beyond food hygiene, your team needs to understand health and safety, manual handling, first aid awareness and fire safety - we've got it all covered in one place, including access to our free online courses.
Perfect for catering businesses, our subscription includes:
- Complete food safety suite (Level 1-3)
- Manual handling for catering staff
- Fire safety training
- Essential first aid training
- COSHH training for cleaning and sanitising
One straightforward subscription gives each team member unlimited access to these courses plus 200+ others including the food hygiene certificate level 2.
Find out more about our training subscription
Legislation covered in this course includes:
If you’re working in the hospitality or service industry, you will need to comply with the latest food and hygiene regulations. This Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate is designed to help you comply with EU Regulation 852/2004, which requires food businesses to ensure that any employee who handles food is fully trained in food hygiene.
The contents of this course also adhere to the Industry Standards set by People 1st and the Sector Skills Council for the Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism industries.
What you'll learn
- An introduction to food safety and hygiene
- The impact of food-borne illness
- Understanding food law
- Food safety hazards and contamination
- Food preservation, storage and temperature control
Suitable for
- Anyone working in a role that involves the handling or preparation of food
- Anyone who manages staff members in a catering environment
- Includes anyone working in Hotels, Restaurants, Takeaways, Cafes, Bars, Fast food outlets, Fish & chip shops, Kitchens, Hospitals, Prisons, Schools and Colleges
Course Structure
We look at why food safety and hygiene is important for any business working with food. This section also looks at contamination, food spoilage and the affects of them as well as the terms 'prevention' and 'control' and why they are important when it comes to food hygiene.
Certification
At the end of this food hygiene course, you will need to complete a test that consists of 30 multiple choice questions. Learners are required to achieve a 75% pass mark, and - if necessary - may attempt the test three times at no extra cost. If learners do not achieve the 75% pass mark, further attempts may be given by contacting our support team.
Posted & Digital Food Hygiene Certificate
Upon completing the food hygiene course, learners will be able to download a digital food hygiene certificate from Virtual College. If you have bought the posted food hygiene certificate option, a high quality, seal embossed, certificate will be sent out the following working week after completion.
This certification is universally recognised and can be used to provide evidence of food hygiene and safety training both internally and to external auditors.
There is no set time for how long a certificate is valid for, but the accepted industry standard is for food hygiene certificates to be renewed every three years. However, some employers may require you to renew your certification more frequently than this.
This online food hygiene course is not a formal RQF food safety & hygiene qualification, the levels only indicate the type of food and hygiene course so that businesses can choose whom it is suitable for.

Self-Printed Certificate Option
Upon completion of the course, a digital certificate will be available to download instantly.
Posted Certificate option
A high quality, seal embossed, certificate will be sent out at the beginning of the next working week.
Recommended renewal: 3 years
Whilst none of our certificates have an expiry date it is strongly recommended that the training is completed every three years. This is based on industry best practice to ensure awareness and knowledge of the latest guidance and legislation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Food businesses are legally required to ensure all food handlers receive an appropriate level of training and supervision in food hygiene and safety. Although a certificate is not required by law, for the majority of food businesses it is the preferred way of proving food handlers have had the correct training.
Recent Reviews
19th July 2025
Super easy to use and a comprehensive…
Super easy to use and a comprehensive training schedule - thank you very much!
19th July 2025
Great
Easy to navigate
18th July 2025
Level 2 health & Safety within the catering world. With using virtual college
With using virtual college, it was quick and easy to pay and access my chosen course. I had a choice of using different methods on what type of device that I could use which was great for me. The course was very informative and I learnt a lot and the assessment at the end was good & you have a certificate that you can download straight away. Very highly recommend.
18th July 2025
Easy to access the Training
The process of purchasing the training (in this case combined offer of Allergy Awareness and Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene) was easy as was the ability to access and complete the training. The online training system works well. The Food Allergy course was comprehensive and well structured my only criticism is that the Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene is not as well structured with the same material repeated may times in different places so the course could be made much shorter.
18th July 2025
Very good everything completed…
Very good everything completed professionally
18th July 2025
Found the training easy to access and…
Found the training easy to access and navigate through different sections
17th July 2025
Very easy to follow well constructed…
Very easy to follow well constructed course
17th July 2025
The system was easy to use and things…
The system was easy to use and things were clear throughout
17th July 2025
easy to complete
easy to complete very informative
17th July 2025
Very informative
Very informative. Well navigated and explained in ways I could understand with out jargon that can often get in the way.
Excellent
4.7 out of 5
15858 Reviews on