If you’re looking into joining a restaurant, catering company, or a food factory, you probably keep hearing the term food handling certificate. Under Qatar’s regulations, anyone in this sector must pass medical and food-handling exams before they can start working. The good thing is, you don’t have to get certified before applying for a job, as training and applications are fully handled by your future employer. If you’re interested in how the food handling certificate process works, what kind of exams you’re passing, and which documents you need, keep reading.

A food handling certificate is a set of medical checks and food-handling exams that workers complete to work in the food industry. Getting certified and passing exams are mandatory per Qatar regulations. 

While it may sound like a single document, a food handling certificate refers to a set of tests, and the extent of these tests depends on the position in the company. The tests usually cover hygiene standards, cleaning and sanitation, Qatar safety regulations, safe food storage and temperature control, and prevention of cross-contamination. 

Luckily, as an employee, you don’t have to worry about the certification and testing process, since everything is handled by your employer. Your task is to study the latest practices and pass the necessary exams, while the scheduling and training will be organized for you.

Anyone who works with food and groceries has to be certified in Qatar. This includes, but isn’t limited to, catering company employees, restaurant staff, supermarket workers, food delivery personnel, and employees of food manufacturing facilities. But the extent of exams won’t be the same for every employee, as this greatly depends on their scope of work. 

For instance, cooks will have a much different set of exams than waiters, as the scale of food monitoring in the establishment isn’t the same. Officially, a cook’s job is to prepare and handle meals across all stages of the food chain, supervise other food makers, ensure good hygiene practices and processing quality, and handle food as needed. 

On the other hand, a waiter serves meals to customers, monitors the temperature of displayed food, and reports any non-conformity to the supervisor. So, their tests will be mostly related to these couple of tasks. When in doubt, check the official definitions and food-handling requirements for each position.  

Step 1: Food safety exams

As mentioned, your employer is responsible for their workers going through food safety training and exams. They first need to register their organization on the official food safety platform called WATHEQ. There are separate sections for importers and local food premises. 

For this process, they need their commercial registration number.

After this, they’ll have access to all relevant food handling certification and training platforms. 

Companies can choose to enroll workers in training or internal courses. Several organizations are conducting food handling training, including Qatar Chamber, Energetch Qatar, IQS, and Prometric. Pricing varies widely, but the Qatar Chamber courses start at QAR 150. While in training, employees can use the provided materials to study for exams and consult the Code of Practice. 

After the course is complete, employers will sign their workers up for exams in Arabic or English. As mentioned, the scope of the exams varies by position.

The exams are typically arranged either via the Qatar Chamber or Prometric. For both methods, the company’s credentials are required, so a worker can’t schedule them.

The exam fee is QAR 50. Tests are completed in person, either at the Qatar Chamber or at a Prometric location. You can find a guide on what happens once you arrive to take the test on the Prometric website. 

Unfortunately, employees can’t access their test results themselves. The employer will check the food handling certificate Qatar results online and inform the worker. 

Step 2: Medical exams

Medical examinations are a mandatory step for obtaining a food handling certificate, as every worker must prove they have a clean bill of health to work in the food industry. They are handled by the Medical Commission in Qatar. 

This one is also on the employer — they have to print out the application form, help the worker fill it out, and schedule an appointment on the Medical Commission’s E-services portal using the company’s credentials. The fee for a food handler's examination is QAR 20. 

Once the appointment is scheduled, the worker shows up at the nearby examination center and provides:

• Qatar ID or passport

• Visa copy

• Vaccination card

• Copy of the company’s registration certificate 

• Two recent photos

• Printed application form

• Fee payment receipt

Exams take between 1 and 3 hours, depending on how busy the medical facility is. The food handling medical results in Qatar are sent to the employer within 72 hours. 

Step 3: Food handling license

Once both the tests and medical examinations are completed, the employer can apply for the employee’s food handling license. This is done through their Qatar Chamber profile. 

For this, they need the employee’s photo with a white background, dimensions 5x6 cm. Licenses are granted only to workers who have received a passing score on the exam and have a clean bill of health. Their validity is 3 years, after which the company can apply for renewal.