Online Graduate Certificate in Food Safety and Protection

This certificate is designed for working professionals and graduate students interested in food policy as it relates to the safety and quality of foods. Featuring a curriculum that’s aligned with local, state and national health and safety initiatives, including the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations, this program focuses on the downstream evaluation of the production, processing and preparation of food and food products. You’ll also learn about quality systems and how to assess food safety hazards, such as waterborne and food pathogen outbreaks.

Does completing this result in National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) certification?

The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) certification is needed to pursue a career as a registered sanitarian or food safety and protection inspector. While this certificate helps to prepare you to sit for food safety certification exams, it doesn’t automatically result in certification. It’s important to note that other required criteria, such as experience, fieldwork and background checks, must be met to sit for the exam.

What’s the difference between this graduate certificate and a food safety master’s?

While this graduate certificate provides an overview of important food safety and protection knowledge, it differs from a comprehensive master’s program. This certificate is designed for working professionals or graduate students who want to take specialized food safety courses.

Differently, the Master of Science in regulatory science with a concentration in food safety offers these same food safety courses, with the addition of six in-depth regulatory science courses that focus on the overall regulatory structure, authority and regulations of the FDA. Regulatory science courses provide the knowledge to develop new approaches and tools to assess the safety, quality, performance and efficacy of all FDA products.