Intended Audience

We designed this course for a wide range of food industry professionals including food plant employees and supervisors, quality control and assurance personnel, sanitation and food safety employees and managers, food safety auditors and consultants, university education and extension personnel, state inspectors, and other personnel from regulatory agencies.

Course Cost

The course fee is $200. Group discounts are available for groups with 20 or more participants. Please contact Nancy Long at ifstraining [at] cornell.edu (ifstraining[at]cornell[dot]edu) for details.

Important note: Refunds are not available after payment for the course is received.

How the Course Works

The course consists of 5 different modules with a section of additional resources at the end of the course:

1. Intro to Food Microbiology
2. Factors Affecting Microbial Growth
3. Foodborne Illness and Public Health
4. Pathogens of Importance in Foods
5. Microbiological Testing and Monitoring

You will have 5 weeks to complete the course. Each module concludes with a quiz to test your knowledge. As described below, you must complete each quiz with a passing score of 100% to earn the Certificate of Course Completion.

Course Registration

The registration steps are as follows:

1. Complete the IFS@CU course registration web form;
2. Pay for the course; and
3. Create an account to access the online course.

We will email each participant instructions to complete steps 2 and 3 after completion of step 1.

After completing all 3 steps outlined above, we will notify each student to confirm their enrollment in the online course. Students will have 5 weeks to complete the course from the date of enrollment. All communications related to this course will be by email, and each student must have a working email address to participate.

Important note: Refunds are not available after payment for the course is received.

System Requirements

The course material is accessed through a browser such as Safari, Chrome, Firefox or Edge. For best results please make sure you're using the most current version of your browser software by installing any needed updates. The software application for the online delivery of the course requires one of the following operating systems: Windows 7 and newer; Mac OSX 10.10 and newer; or Linux – chromeOS.

Course Completion Certificate

Students will earn a “Certificate of Course Completion” after passing each module quiz with a score of 100%. Course certificates are issued weekly on Friday mornings during IFS@CU business hours. The certificate will be issued and emailed to the individual person who registered for the course and will contain the date of completion. You should keep the certificate on file as a training record.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

CEUs are a standardized way to measure and track the time and effort involved in non-credit continuing education activities. The CEU system is a nationally recognized standard used for documenting the completion of these activities and is often used for professional development, license renewal, and career advancement. Typically, 1 CEU is equal to 10 contact hours of participation in a structured educational experience.

All courses offered by the Institute for Food Safety at Cornell University have equivalent CEUs that can be applied for professional development purposes. Each course qualifies for a unique number of CEUs depending on its length and design. The total CEUs earned for each course will be included on the course certificate at its conclusion.

This course is equivalent to 0.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

Frequently Asked Questions

I am having a problem accessing the course. What should I do?

Please contact Nancy Long (ifstraining [at] cornell.edu (ifstraining[at]cornell[dot]edu)) and she will assist you with gaining access to the course.

Is the course offered in Spanish?

Unfortunately at this time, we do not offer the Food Microbiology Fundamentals course in Spanish.

I completed the course. How can I get my Certificate of Completion?

Certificates of Completion are issued weekly on Friday mornings during business operations. For questions, please contact Nancy Long (ifstraining [at] cornell.edu (ifstraining[at]cornell[dot]edu)). Please note, we sometimes adjust the schedule for University or office closures, but will give enrolled participants advanced notice through announcements in Canvas.

May I have an extension to complete the course?

Participants have 5 weeks to complete the course from the time of payment. If you need additional time to complete the course, please email Nancy Long (ifstraining [at] cornell.edu (ifstraining[at]cornell[dot]edu)) to request a one-time extension. Please note that we do not grant participants unlimited access to the course.

I paid for the course, but now I don’t need to take it. How do I get a refund for the course?

Unfortunately, refunds are not available after payment for the course is received.

How do I know if I completed all the quizzes for each module?

You can select “Grades” from the menu bar in Canvas. It will bring up a window that shows your grade for each assignment quiz. If you are missing a grade, then you have not submitted a quiz for that section. You can go back to the course module and submit the assignment quiz.

You must complete and submit all assignment quizzes for each module with a passing score of 100% to complete the course.

How do I download PDFs of the training modules?

Unfortunately, it is not possible to download the training modules as a single PDF.

How do I access the links/resources provided in the course?

All of the links/resources shared within the course are available on the IFS@CU’s website, under Course Resources on the Food Microbiology Fundamentals course web page.