Version 1.5 · effective 2026-07-23, amended 2026-07-27. One statement per credential: what it attests, what it does not, and how it is earned. Written for candidates, employers and accreditation assessors alike.
CAIBOK is a certification body. It owns the standard and evaluates competency. It does not
deliver training and does not endorse any training provider — see the Commercial Firewall
Policy v1.0 and /independence.
Each statement below adds its own limits. These apply to all of them.
A CAIBOK credential is not a licence. It confers no legal right to work in any jurisdiction. Where a country, state or municipality requires a licence, permit, registration or health card, the holder must obtain that separately from the competent authority. CAIBOK credentials do not substitute for, satisfy, or shorten any such requirement.
A CAIBOK credential does not replace a local food-handler or food-manager card. CAIBOK records and verifies such cards (see White Belt) — it does not issue them.
Accreditation status (United States and Canada). No CAIBOK credential — including the White Belt and Food Safety Manager (2110) verifications — is an ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) accredited food handler or food manager certification, and none satisfies any food handler or food manager card requirement of any U.S. state, county or locality, of any U.S. territory (including Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands), or of any Canadian federal, provincial or territorial authority. CAIBOK is pursuing ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation; until it is granted, no CAIBOK credential is accredited by ANAB or any other accreditation body. Every candidate acknowledges this in the candidate declaration before their first exam or card attestation, and the acknowledgment is recorded. Residents of Canada and of U.S. territories carry the same acknowledgment as U.S. residents.
No CAIBOK credential attests hands-on ability. Assessment is by written examination. Knife skills, cookery technique, plating execution, speed, consistency under service pressure and any other psychomotor competence are outside the scope of every credential in this document. A credential attests that the holder knows the standard and can reason about applying it; it does not attest that they can perform it to standard in a kitchen. Employers should continue to assess practical ability directly — a trade test, a stage, or a working interview.
A credential attests competence at a point in time. Belt credentials carry a validity period and continuing-education obligations. A lapsed credential does not attest current competence.
Purchase is not attainment. Fees buy access to assessment. They do not buy a credential, and
candidates fail. Certification decisions rest solely on assessment results and are reserved to the
Board of Trustees (see CAIBOK-GOV-001).
Not an examination. Not a certification. A verification.
What it attests: that CAIBOK has sighted and recorded a food-handler (or higher) food-safety certificate issued to the holder by a third party, and that the certificate was current on the date recorded.
How it is earned: by attestation — the holder uploads an external food-safety card, or a Black Belt Chef Basic Food Safety certificate. CAIBOK does not examine for it.
What it does NOT attest:
Validity: tied to the underlying card. It is the anchor date for the holder's CAIBOK clocks.
Scope status: registration service. Outside the intended accredited scope.
A readiness statement, not a certification.
What it attests: that the holder has demonstrated, by written examination, the knowledge expected of someone ready to begin work as a commis — food safety at manager level, workplace safety, foundational cookery knowledge, and how a kitchen operates as a business.
How it is earned: the four Brown anchors — 2110 Food Safety Manager (by attestation of a manager-level food-safety card), 2120 Workplace Safety, 2200 Cooking, 2300 Business — plus the Brown capstone. No electives are required.
What it does NOT attest:
It does not attest that the holder can cook to a professional standard. It is a knowledge threshold for entering the kitchen, not evidence of craft.
It does not attest any supervisory capability.
Scope status: readiness statement, deliberately outside the intended accredited scope. Consequently the Brown examinations are not proctored.
What it attests: that the holder has demonstrated, by written examination, the knowledge required to run a station: to execute their own section to standard, apply food-safety and workplace-safety requirements within it, work to standardised recipes and costings, and operate within a kitchen team.
How it is earned: 6 anchors (3101, 3201, 3220, 3301, 3304, 3322) + 2 electives + the proctored Green capstone, holding the Brown Belt and a current White Belt.
What it does NOT attest:
Scope status: certification. Within intended accredited scope. Capstone proctored.
What it attests: that the holder has demonstrated, by written examination, the knowledge required to run a shift: to supervise a brigade in service, verify others' work against the standard, manage stock and cost within delegated limits, and hold command of the kitchen in the head chef's absence within delegated authority.
How it is earned: 6 anchors (4102, 4127, 4211, 4220, 4301, 4314) + 2 electives + the proctored Red capstone, holding the Green Belt and a current White Belt. Because the Red Belt certifies accountability for a shift, it also requires verified professional experience — at least 2 years as a cook, chef or restaurant manager, supervising at least 1 direct report — attested by CV and confirmed by a reviewer before the capstone. (The span-of-control floor is an interim measure, set 2026-07-25, pending the job-task-analysis survey.)
What it does NOT attest:
It does not attest ownership of the standard — a sous chef exercises borrowed authority. Setting the kitchen's standards is the Black Belt.
It does not attest financial accountability for the kitchen as a business unit.
Scope status: certification. Within intended accredited scope. Capstone proctored.
What it attests: that the holder has demonstrated, by written examination, the knowledge required to run a kitchen: to establish and own its standards, design menus, carry financial accountability for the operation, lead and develop the brigade, and answer for food safety and workplace safety as the responsible person.
How it is earned: 6 anchors (5102, 5121, 5204, 5301, 5304, 5314) + 3 electives, of which at least one must be from the Professional Cooking pillar + the proctored Black capstone, holding the Red Belt and a current White Belt. Because the Black Belt certifies accountability for a kitchen, it also requires verified professional experience — at least 4 years, of which at least 2 at lead or supervisory level, supervising at least 2 direct reports — attested by CV and confirmed by a reviewer before the capstone. (The span-of-control floor is an interim measure, set 2026-07-25, pending the job-task-analysis survey.)
What it does NOT attest:
Scope status: certification. Within intended accredited scope. Capstone proctored.
What it attests: that the holder has demonstrated, by written examination, knowledge across the operational, legal, cost, talent and strategic domains of running a restaurant business.
How it is earned: the certificate's defined subject set plus its capstone, holding a current White Belt.
What it does NOT attest:
Scope status: certification. Capstone proctored.
The following were previously planned or offered and are suspended from CAIBOK scope (2026-07-23): Certificate in Restaurant Marketing · Certified Line Cook · Certified Food Safety Lead · Certified Kitchen Supervisor.
Why: CAIBOK's job-task analysis covers chef roles across the Green, Red and Black levels. It does not cover restaurant marketing, and the three role credentials were never grounded in analysed task areas. Certification scope must not exceed what the job analysis supports, so they were withdrawn rather than defended.
These subjects remain available as training, and Black Belt Chef issues certificates of completion for them. A certificate of completion records that someone finished a course. It is not a CAIBOK credential, is not a certification, and must never be represented as one.
Applying. Purchasing access confers eligibility to be assessed — it is not, by itself, an application. Before a candidate's first exam or card attestation they complete a one-time candidate declaration: confirming their identity details (the account name is the name that appears on certificates), agreeing to comply with the certification requirements and to supply any information needed for the assessment, and being given — at that moment and at any time afterwards — the opportunity to request an accommodation for special needs. Prerequisite evidence (the food-safety card attestation, professional-experience verification for the senior belts, and belt order) is verified through the published process for each credential.
Special-needs accommodations. CAIBOK provides reasonable accommodations — such as extended time, rest breaks, assistive technology, or alternative arrangements — wherever they do not compromise what the examination measures or the integrity of the assessment, taking applicable law into account. How it works: request the accommodation in the candidate declaration, or at [email protected], before sitting the exam; describe what you need, and CAIBOK may ask for reasonable supporting information; every request is acknowledged, decided before the exam, and recorded. An accommodation never changes the pass mark or the certification decision, and a declined request may be appealed under the published Discipline and Appeals Procedure.
Reviewed at least annually and whenever the scheme changes. Changes are approved by the Board of
Trustees under CAIBOK-GOV-001.
Related: CAIBOK-ANCHOR-ELECTIVE-POLICY.md · CAIBOK-RECOGNITION-POLICY-PUBLIC.md ·
CAIBOK_Commercial_Firewall_Policy.md · CAIBOK-GOV-001 (Governance & Impartiality Framework).