College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences

Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences

About the Program

The Practitioner of Food Safety Certificate is a graduate certificate program designed to provide students with advanced training in food microbiology, toxicology, and sanitation.  Students must also demonstrate mastery in two areas aligned with industry or regulatory trainings, for example, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, Preventive Controls for Human Food, or Food Safety and Quality management systems.  The certificate can be completed in one year.

The certificate credits can be applied towards the requirements for the Master of Food Safety and Quality degree, should the student decide to further their studies.  A bachelor’s degree is required for admission into the certificate program, and previous coursework in chemistry and microbiology is strongly recommended.

The PFS program does not provide financial aid or assistantships.

Admission

Applicants must have a BS or BA degree and provide one letter of recommendation. No entrance exam is required. Applicants are encouraged to contact the MFSQ program director prior to completing the University online application for graduate studies.  The School of Graduate Studies will hold your application until it is complete, and it will then be reviewed by the NDFS department. When students are accepted into the program, they will be assigned a faculty advisor within the food science group in NDFS.