Food handler course in English, for work in Spain

Do you work in a restaurant, bar, shop or supermarket in Spain?

In Spain, the employer must make sure that people who handle food are trained in food hygiene (manipulador de alimentos). Here you read the whole course in English and take the test, both free. Then you get the certificate.

This page is a course, not a job offer. We do not find jobs.

How it works: three steps

1. Read the 7 lessons on this page (about 15 to 20 minutes, with examples). Free.
2. Take the 21-question test (16 to pass). You can retake it as often as you like: go to the test. Free. Before the test: practise 15 work situations.
3. See your certificate in Spanish, in your name, right after you pass. It carries a "SIN PAGAR" (unpaid) mark. To remove it, pay $13 (about €11) once by card. Print it or save it as a PDF.

EU Regulation 852/2004 (Annex II, Chapter XII) requires that everyone who handles food is supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene. Spain has had no official card since 2010: the employer must make sure its staff are trained.

1Who is a food handler, and why training?Manipulador de alimentos

A food handler is anyone who touches food at work: cooks it, serves it, stores it, sells it, packs it, or washes plates and kitchen tools. Waiters, bakery staff and warehouse staff are food handlers too.

What the law says: EU Regulation 852/2004 (Annex II, Chapter XII) says the employer must make sure staff are trained in food hygiene for their job. The health inspector (inspector de sanidad) visits, watches how you work and asks for proof of training.

Why: to stop food poisoning (intoxicación alimentaria). It can be very dangerous for babies, pregnant women, old people and sick people. One mistake in a kitchen can make dozens of customers ill in one day.

Your duty when you are ill: if you have diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, a sore throat with fever, an infected wound or a skin infection, tell your manager before you touch food. They may give you work away from food until you are well.

Example: you wake up with diarrhoea but feel fine. Do not say "it's nothing". Call your manager before your shift starts.

2Hazards in foodPeligros

• Biological (biológicos): bacteria such as salmonella and listeria, viruses, and parasites such as the anisakis worm in fish.
• Chemical (químicos): cleaning products, pesticides, burnt frying oil used too many times.
• Physical (físicos): glass, hair, metal pieces, bones, plastic, a plaster.

How bacteria grow: they need food, moisture, warmth and time. In warm food (between fridge cold and 63 °C) they grow very fast. So keep food cold in the fridge, or hot at 63 °C or above. Never leave it out on the counter.

Some bacteria make poisons (toxins) that heat does not destroy. Food left warm for hours does not become safe when you reheat it.

Raw fish: fish eaten raw, almost raw or marinated (sushi, boquerones en vinagre) is frozen first at −20 °C or lower for at least 24 hours, to kill anisakis (EU Regulation 853/2004).

Example: you cooked a big pot of rice in the morning and left it on the counter until the evening. It is a risk even if you reheat it well. It should have been cooled fast and put in the fridge.

3Cross-contamination and deliveriesContaminación cruzada y recepción

Cross-contamination is when germs move from raw food to ready-to-eat food. They travel on hands, knives, boards, cloths, or drips from raw meat in the fridge.

• Use different boards and knives for raw and cooked food. Many kitchens use colours, for example red for raw meat and blue for fish. Follow your kitchen's colours.
• In the fridge: ready food on top, raw meat and fish at the bottom. Everything covered and labelled.
• Never put food or boxes on the floor.
• Wash fruit and vegetables well. Disinfect what is eaten raw (salad) as your workplace says.
• Eggs: do not crack them on the edge of a bowl with other food. Many places use pasteurised egg for mayonnaise and sauces. Follow your workplace's rules.
• Wet cloths spread germs. Use paper towels you throw away, if your workplace has them.

When goods arrive (recepción): check the packaging is not damaged, the date is good, chilled food is cold and frozen food is hard. Put chilled and frozen food away fast. If something is wrong, tell your manager and do not use it.

Example: you cut raw chicken and now need to cut bread. Do not just wipe the knife with a cloth. Take a clean board and knife, and wash your hands.

4Temperature and storageTemperaturas (RD 1086/2020, art. 30)

Measure the temperature in the centre of the food with a clean thermometer, not on the surface.

• Thawing: thaw frozen food in the fridge, never on the counter or in the sun. The microwave is fine if you cook it straight away.
• Never freeze thawed food again, unless you cook it first.
• Cooling: split a big pot into small containers so it cools faster.
• Reheating: only once. What is left after reheating goes in the bin.
• Dates: Fecha de caducidad = use-by date: never use after it. Consumo preferente = best-before date: about quality, not safety.
• Stock rotation: first in, first out (FIFO). Label every container with the food's name and the date it was made, opened or frozen.

Example: the fridge shows 9 °C and it holds meals kept for more than a day. That is above 4 °C. Tell your manager at once and write the temperature on the record sheet.

5Personal hygiene and hand washingHigiene personal

When to wash your hands: before work, after the toilet, after raw meat, fish or eggs, after rubbish, after coughing, sneezing or touching your nose or hair, after your phone or money, and after cleaning.

How:

1. Wet your hands.
2. Add soap.
3. Rub for at least 20 seconds: palms, backs, between the fingers, thumbs and nails.
4. Rinse well.
5. Dry with a paper towel, and close the tap with it if the tap is not foot- or sensor-operated.

• Clean work clothes, worn only at work, and a hair cover.
• Short, clean nails with no polish and no false nails. No rings, watch or bracelets.
• Cover a cut with a coloured (often blue) waterproof plaster and a glove on top.
• Never in a food area: smoking, eating, chewing gum, coughing or sneezing over food, tasting with your finger.
• Gloves do not replace hand washing. Wash before putting them on, and change them when you change task or they tear.

6Cleaning, pests, allergens and APPCCLimpieza, plagas, alérgenos y APPCC

Cleaning (limpieza) removes dirt and grease. Disinfection (desinfección) kills germs. Order: clean first, then disinfect, then rinse if the product says so.

• Use the amount written on the product label.
• Never mix cleaning products. Bleach (lejía) mixed with other products can give off toxic gas.
• Keep cleaning products away from food, in their own labelled bottles. Never put them in a water bottle.

Pests (plagas): keep doors and windows closed or screened, bins covered, and no leftovers lying around. If you see mouse droppings or cockroaches, tell your manager at once.

The 14 allergens (14 alérgenos) of EU Regulation 1169/2011: cereals with gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soy, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin, molluscs.

• The business must know which dish has which allergen and tell the customer.
• When a customer asks, never guess. Check the allergen list or ask your manager.
• For an allergen-free dish: wash your hands, clean the tools and surface, make it apart, and do not use the same frying oil.

APPCC (HACCP in English): every business has a written food safety plan. Your job is to follow it and fill in the records you are asked to: fridge temperatures, cleaning, deliveries.

Example: a customer with a sesame allergy asks about the hummus. Do not say "I don't think so". Check the allergen list: tahini is made from sesame.

7Do not waste foodDesperdicio alimentario (Ley 1/2025, art. 5)

Spain's law 1/2025 requires food businesses to waste less food, in this order:

1. Prevent waste first: prepare the right amount. Turning unsold food into other food products (jam, juice) is part of this step too.
2. Donate good food to people, for example to a food bank.
3. Animal feed.
4. By-products used by another industry.
5. Compost, then energy.

The bin is the last option.

In a restaurant: if a customer wants to take leftovers home, give a free container that can be recycled or reused (buffets excepted).

At work: use older stock first, and follow labels and dates. Never donate food past its caducidad date or food left warm.

Source: BOE, Ley 1/2025.

Practise before the test: 15 work situationsPráctica: 15 situaciones reales

This is practice only, with no score and no certificate. Pick your answer, then open "Answer" to see the right one and why.

Ready? Take the real test: 21 questions.