Working with food comes with a task that is simple to state and important to do: do not make the people who eat it ill. In this lesson you will see which rules require this and in which Regions this course can be used.
The European rule
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs applies throughout the European Union. Its Annex II, Chapter XII says that the food business operator (FBO, in Italian OSA) must ensure that food handlers are supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene, in a way that suits the work they do. Those who look after the HACCP procedures must have adequate training in the HACCP principles. The FBO must also comply with national rules on training programmes for certain sectors.
The FBO is whoever runs the business: the owner of a bar, a restaurant, a workshop, a food shop or a canteen.
The health card is gone
Workers in the sector used to hold the libretto di idoneità sanitaria (health fitness card; law 283/1962, Article 14, and Presidential Decree DPR 327/1980). In many Regions it has been replaced by training, information and self-control. Today the question is no longer "do you have the card?" but "can you do your job hygienically, and can the owner show it?".
Who decides how training is done: the Region
Italy leaves a great deal to the Regions. Each Region can say who may provide training and under what rules. That is why the right course depends on where you work.
This course is written for three Regions only, where today's rules leave it to the operator to choose how training is organised, with no requirement for a training body authorised by the Region:
- Lombardy. Regional law 33/2009, Article 126, says that food business operators provide the training, instruction and updating of their staff in accordance with Regulation (EC) 852/2004. The prevention departments of the local health authorities check whether the training procedures are adequate.
- Veneto. Under regional law 2/2013, Article 5, training is the duty of the employer or the person in charge of the activity. According to the guidance of the ULSS (local health authorities), the rules of regional resolution DGR 2898/2012 are no longer mandatory, and the employer decides content, duration and renewal.
- Emilia-Romagna. Regional law 9/2025 repealed regional law 11/2003. Courses no longer have to be accredited or authorised by the AUSL (local health authorities), and training is the operator's responsibility. The exception is specific gluten-free training, which remains with the AUSL and the association AIC Emilia-Romagna.
In all other Regions this course is not enough
Outside Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, training often has to come from a body authorised by the Region, and this course is not one. Before enrolling an employee, check the rules of your Region on its website or ask your ASL. Even in the three Regions the rules can change: always check the text in force.
"Free" does not mean "without rules"
In the three Regions nobody obliges you to choose a particular body. But the FBO remains responsible. The laws cited do not set a number of hours and impose no expiry date. In Veneto the law asks for training to be renewed when the production cycle changes. The health authority checks that the training is adequate and documented. In Emilia-Romagna the Region suggests documenting it, for example with a programme that states its duration and topics.
What the owner still has to do
A general course is not enough on its own. The owner must also:
- notify the business to the competent authority for registration (Article 6 of Regulation 852/2004; in Italy usually with a SCIA, a notification of start of activity, to the municipality's one-stop shop);
- prepare the self-control plan (piano di autocontrollo) for the business;
- explain the premises' procedures to employees;
- keep a record of who has been trained, when and on what;
- repeat the refresher when staff, equipment, recipes or rules change.
Remember
- Regulation (EC) 852/2004 asks for training suited to the work done.
- This course can be used only in Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, and there it is for the owner to decide whether it is enough.
- The owner is responsible for training and must be able to prove it.
- Regional rules change: check the text in force.