Food handler medicals for food premises

What the law says, and what buyers ask for

South Africa’s food hygiene regulations (R638 of 2018) do not prescribe a routine medical. They do bar anyone with a disease likely to spread through food from handling it, and that is the risk a health interview and a medical are there to catch. Employers, food-safety audits and retail buyers often ask to see a certificate on file as well.

What a food handler medical covers

• Health interview: recent stomach illness, jaundice, fever, and ear, eye or nose problems
• Hands and skin checked for sores, boils and infected cuts
• Ears, eyes and mouth checked for discharge or infection
• Blood pressure, height, weight and urine check
• Vision, hearing and lung function where the job calls for them
• Certificate of fitness naming food handling as the work
• A register of renewal dates for your food safety file

How it runs for food businesses

1. Send the staff list Names, jobs and areas: kitchen, production line, packing, cleaning. That sets what each person’s medical covers.
2. Book the day At your premises in batches around your shifts, or at the practice in Somerset West.
3. Assessment Each person assessed for their own job by a registered occupational health nurse practitioner.
4. Certificates on file A certificate for each person and a register of renewal dates, ready for an audit or a buyer’s visit.

Common questions

Do food handlers legally need a medical in South Africa?

Not a routine one under the food regulations. R638 of 2018 does not require pre-employment or routine medicals. What regulation 11(2) does say is that anyone who has, or is suspected of having, a contagious disease likely to spread through food may not handle food until they submit a certificate from a medical practitioner stating they are fit to. Separately, the Occupational Health and Safety Act may require medicals for noise, dust or chemical exposure on the same site, and employers and food-safety audits often ask for a certificate regardless.

Who counts as a food handler?

R638 defines a food handler as anyone whose normal work on food premises brings them into direct contact with packaged or unpackaged food, food equipment and utensils, or food-contact surfaces. That takes in chefs, waiters, factory and packing staff, and the cleaners who clean food-contact surfaces.

Which conditions stop someone handling food?

R638 names jaundice, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, sore throat with fever, and discharges from the ear, eye or nose. It also bars anyone with a sore, cut, abscess or infected skin lesion unless it is covered with a firmly secured moisture-proof dressing.

Who can sign a food handler certificate?

An occupational health nurse practitioner can do the routine medical and issue the certificate of fitness for the job. The return-to-work certificate R638 asks for after a contagious illness has to come from a medical practitioner, meaning a doctor. If that is the one you need, we will tell you before you book.

How long is a food handler medical valid?

R638 sets no expiry date. In practice employers and food-safety audits work to twelve months, and the medical should be repeated sooner after a serious or contagious illness.

Is a stool test required?

Not routinely. Lancet Laboratories’ guidance is that routine stool screening of food handlers is neither cost-effective nor recommended. It comes up after infections such as salmonella, typhoid, cholera or dysentery, when a doctor manages the return to work.

Do you test food handlers for HIV?

No. Blood-borne infections such as HIV and hepatitis B and C are not a food-safety hazard, and the Employment Equity Act does not allow HIV testing of employees unless the Labour Court has found it justifiable.

Can you come to our kitchen or factory?

Yes. On-site medical days run across Somerset West, Strand, Stellenbosch and greater Cape Town. A private room with a power point is all that is needed.

Can one person come in for a food handler medical?

Yes, by appointment at 6 Radloff Rd, Somerset West. Send the job you are starting, and any form your employer gave you, on WhatsApp to 082 490 4349.

Get your team certified

Send the number of staff, the kind of premises and your location, and we will come back with a per-employee rate and a date.