Gov’t Doubling Cadre of Public Health Inspectors

The Government is moving to double the number of public health inspectors to better address the increased workload and monitoring needs, particularly in light of the overhaul of the National Food Handlers’ Training and Certification Programme.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, made the disclosure during a visit to a food handlers’ permit training site off Half-Way Tree Road in Kingston on Tuesday (July 8).

He noted that with the food handlers’ permit validity period moving from one to two years in 2026, concerns have been raised about maintaining standards within food establishments.

“We are expanding the category of those inspectors. So, what is going to happen is that, instead of having about 500 or 600, we want to add another 400 or 500 over time. We are literally going to be doubling those numbers, and what that means for you is that in the period of two years, when you have that permission, expect an unexpected visit at any time,” Dr. Tufton stated.

“If you breach the rules, you’re going to pay the price, because our role is to protect the public and to protect those who don’t follow the rules from creating harm to the public. So, my advice is that if you get a longer time and a more efficient process, you must live up to your end of the bargain and follow through on the consistency and quality,” he added.

In addition to extending the permit term, bill payment and bank transfer options will be introduced next year.
Dr. Tufton also stated that the Government is working to simplify the preparation process for the food handler’s test.

“The policy mandate is to make that process easier, whether you do some of it online… whether you have… some information that you can access, so that when you come into a lecture, a classroom like this, you can almost pre-prepare in many ways, and maybe would have gotten some of the things out of the way. That makes it more efficient, because you can do it on your computer or on your phone at home. We have the technology; we need to move in that direction,” he stated.

“When you sit your exam, we want a quick turnaround in terms of results. There is no reason why that cannot be automated, why you can’t get feedback, just as you do when you go to the embassy for a visa… no reason why you cannot, in an authentic way, get that kind of response quickly, so you don’t have to wait months, in some instances, for a result,” the Minister added.

Dr. Tufton pointed out that “months mean deprivation of your work or working unauthorised because you don’t have the current permit, and many people are forced to do that”.

“So, the law is almost facilitating breach, which is not something that we want. The technology is going to be the next point of departure [in terms of] how we use that for payment [and] also for exams and for results,” he said.

Application access points will also be introduced to reduce wait times and improve service delivery.