About ASC Food Safety Training
About ASC Food Safety Training: trained by the people who audit.
ASC Food Safety Training is the training arm of ASC Food Safety Consultants, a South African consulting and auditing practice. Our trainers write and teach courses about Regulation R638, HACCP and food safety management systems because we implement and audit them in real kitchens, factories and stores every week. The training reflects what inspectors and certification bodies check, because we check it.
Start here: Persons in Charge, R1Β 699 Β· Food Handlers, R899 Β· Introduction to HACCP, R1Β 195
Accreditation
Registration and accreditation you can check yourself.
Accreditation is the difference between a certificate and a download. Every registration number below is public.
Practitioner registrationSee the registrationsB-BBEE Level 1All certificates and B-BBEE statusWhy this platform exists
Most food safety training is written for the classroom. Ours is written for the inspection.
What the inspector asks, and what you hand over
ASC started as a consulting practice: implementing HACCP and FSSC 22000 systems, running hygiene audits, and helping food businesses through municipal inspections and Certificate of Acceptability applications. The same questions came up at every site. Who is the trained person in charge? Where is the proof? Does the certificate mean anything?
We built the training platform to answer those questions properly. Every course is written by trainers who audit for a living and know what the inspector will later look for, tested with a video-proctored assessment, and closed with a certificate an environmental health practitioner can verify from a QR code. It works on a phone in a spaza shop and on a laptop in a factory QA office.
- Legislation first. Courses quote the regulation itself, clause by clause, not a summary of it.
- Science underneath. Contamination, temperature and allergen control explained by a food scientist.
- Audit-ready evidence. Completion records, attempt logs and certificates you can hand to an inspector.
- Built for South Africa. R638, municipal practice and the realities of a small food business, not a translated overseas course.
Training pathways
From food handlers to persons in charge, every step is a course you can enrol in today.
Hygiene, contamination prevention and safe handling for everyone who touches food.
Basic Food Safety Practices for Food Handlers, R899
Basic Food Hygiene Awareness, R420
Food handler training guide
The legal duties of the person responsible for a food premises under Regulation R638, with a proctored assessment.
Food Safety Practices for Persons in Charge, R1Β 699
Persons in Charge guide
R638 document templates toolkit, 15% off with the course
What the regulation requires, what the inspector checks, and the training that satisfies both.
R638 training page
Certificate of Acceptability guide
Complete R638 guide
Prerequisite programmes, hazard analysis and the scheme courses for FSSC 22000, ISO 22000 and BRCGS.
Introduction to HACCP, R1Β 195
Implementation of GMP, R1Β 950
FSSC 22000, ISO 22000 and BRCGS courses
The trainers
Led by Mthokozisi Nkosi, delivered by a team of accredited trainers, including a second SAATCA-registered R638 Lead Implementer.
Mthokozisi Nkosi is ASC’s founder and lead trainer: consultant, regulatory specialist, QC manager and food scientist. He holds an MBA, an MSc in International Public Health, an MSc in Data Science, a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health and a BSc (Agriculture) in Food Science and Technology, is completing a PhD in Public Health, is a registered FSSC 22000 and BRCGS lead auditor, and still audits food premises himself. He has been quoted on food safety and public health by Newzroom Afrika, SABC News and Daily Maverick. He sets the standard for every course; a team of accredited ASC trainers and assessors deliver alongside him, online, virtually and on site. Among them is Onele Kutu, SAATCA-registered R638:2018 Lead Implementer (RG004), so two of the four R638 implementers on the SAATCA register are ASC trainers.
The team audits HACCP, FSSC 22000 and R638 hygiene compliance for manufacturers, retailers and franchise groups including KFC and Spur, and brings those findings into the classroom.
A public service background in environmental health and doctoral research in public health. The team knows how municipalities inspect because they have sat on that side of the table.
ASC is quoted in the media on spaza shop regulation, food poisoning outbreaks, fake food and enforcement after public health incidents.
In the media
Asked for comment when food safety is in the news.
Interviews and articles in which ASC has explained food safety, public health and regulation to the South African public. Full media archive →
Why teams choose ASC
What separates ASC from a generic online food safety portal.
| What to check | ASC Food Safety Training | A generic portal |
|---|---|---|
| Accreditation you can verify | SAATCA TC 065, FoodBev SETA 587/00337/1900, published and checkable | Often unclear |
| Built for South African law | Regulation R638 taught clause by clause, Certificate of Acceptability readiness | Generic international content |
| Assessment | Proctored finals on the R638 courses (video-proctored for persons in charge), QR-verified certificates | Unsupervised quiz, PDF certificate |
| Who teaches | A registered lead auditor and a team of accredited trainers who audit food businesses | Rarely stated |
| Delivery | Online, live virtual and on site through three branches | Online only |
| Beyond training | Hygiene audits, HACCP and FSSC 22000 implementation, consulting | Not offered |
How we deliver
Online by default. In a room when it matters.
- Self-paced online
- All 32 courses. Start today, stop and resume on any device, certificate the day you pass. The right choice for individuals and multi-site teams.
- Live virtual
- Facilitated sessions for teams that want discussion and questions answered, without travel. Used for HACCP teams and management groups.
- On site
- Classroom delivery at your premises or through our branches for larger groups, usually combined with a hygiene audit.
Who we train
From a single spaza shop to a national franchise group.
Persons in charge, kitchen teams, franchise compliance.
Manufacturers and processorsHACCP, GMP, FSSC 22000, ISO 22000, BRCGS, auditing.
Retail and supermarketsFood handlers, fresh departments, store managers.
Spaza shops and small businessesAffordable R638 training that works on a phone.
Where we are
Three branches. Online everywhere in South Africa.
More than 250 Google reviews across the three branches. Learners in Durban, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, East London, Polokwane, Mbombela, Kimberley, Pietermaritzburg, Rustenburg, George and Stellenbosch train online, and on-site delivery is arranged through the nearest branch.
14 Brickmakers Kloof Road, South End, Gqeberha 6001
+27 41Β 004Β 0382
Atrium Terraces, 272 Oak Avenue, Ferndale, Randburg 2194
+27 10Β 500Β 4661
183 Albion Springs, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7700
+27 21Β 300Β 4024
Common questions
What people ask when comparing providers.
Is ASC Food Safety Training part of ASC Food Safety Consultants?
Yes. ASC Food Safety Training is the training arm of ASC Food Safety Consultants, which also provides food safety consulting, hygiene audits, food safety management system implementation and public health support.
Will an inspector accept an online certificate for my Certificate of Acceptability?
Regulation R638 does not prescribe online or classroom. It expects the person in charge’s training to be accredited or conducted by an inspector, where applicable (Regulation 10(1)(a)). ASC is a SAATCA registered and FoodBev SETA accredited provider, and its R638 courses cover the regulation itself, end in a video-proctored assessment and issue a QR-verified certificate, which gives the practitioner what Regulation 10(1)(a) lets them check.
How is your assessment different from a tick-box quiz?
The R638 courses end with a proctored assessment; on the Persons in Charge course the learner is identified and observed on video. Knowledge tests along the way require 70 percent to pass, with three attempts.
Can you train a whole company, across branches?
Yes. Learners are enrolled in bulk and grouped by site. A manager dashboard shows who has started and passed, with completion dates for your renewal schedule, and completion reports export for your audit file. KFC and Spur franchise groups train with ASC this way.
Do you also do audits and consulting?
Yes, through ASC Food Safety Consultants at ascfoodsafety.com: hygiene audits, HACCP and FSSC 22000 implementation, certification support and pest control through ASC Pest Control.
Who are the trainers?
ASC’s courses are led by founder and lead trainer Mthokozisi Nkosi, a food scientist, registered lead auditor and SAATCA R638:2018 Lead Implementer (RG003), and delivered by a team of accredited ASC trainers and assessors who also audit food businesses. Onele Kutu, ASC’s second SAATCA-registered R638:2018 Lead Implementer (RG004), is one of them; two of the four implementers on the SAATCA register are ASC trainers.
Choose a course, or tell us about your team.
Courses from R420. Group quotes and invoices within one working day. A person answers WhatsApp during office hours, or book a virtual consultation.