Food safety educators, regulators, and food workers are familiar with the phrase "ANSI accredited." However, another term will replace it in 2023. You will soon see the new phrase, "ANAB accredited," on the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) website, as well as on food safety training sites.
This new terminology is a result of ANSI transitioning its accreditation services to the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB). Accredited training programs will soon replace "ANSI accredited" with "ANAB accredited" or variations such as "accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board."
Why the name change?
In 2019, ANAB became a wholly owned subsidiary of ANSI. At that time, ANSI began integrating its accreditation services with ANAB.
ANAB is now the accrediting body in charge of vetting food safety training programs to ensure they meet national standards. You can learn more on ANAB’s website.
When will I see the name change?
You may have already noticed changes on some websites or programs. ANSI began phasing in changes to the accrediting body’s name and logo in January 2020.
In 2022 and 2023, you will likely see many more food safety training websites and programs using the ANAB acronym in place of ANSI. The ANSI rebranding begins in 2023. ANSI expects training providers to change text references from ANSI to ANAB or the ANSI National Accreditation Board by 2023. The ANSI logo must be changed to the ANAB logo by 2025.
Regulators: How this change may affect you
Some state and local laws require food safety training programs to be ANSI accredited. Although your code may refer to ANSI, the programs you review or see in food establishments may refer to ANAB or the ANSI National Accreditation Board instead.
To avoid confusing food managers and handlers looking for acceptable training, we invite you to start updating the terminology used in your office and by your inspectors. When talking about food safety training, start saying ANAB or ANSI National Accreditation Board instead of ANSI.
Food industry workers: How this change may affect you
If you work in the food industry, the most important thing to remember is that "ANAB accredited" or "accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board" is the correct phrase for describing the accreditation status of a training program. This name change does not affect the accreditation or approval status of any StateFoodSafety programs such as Food Handler Training, Food Manager Training, and other similar programs.
We at StateFoodSafety are committed to providing high-quality training programs and maintaining necessary accreditations.
