ASC Consultants is now ASC Food Safety Consultants

ASC Consultants is now ASC Food Safety Consultants. If you know us as ASC Consultants, ASC Public Health and Food Safety Consultants or simply ASC, you are dealing with the same company: ASC Consultants SA (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2018/407715/07, founded in 2018 by food scientist Mthokozisi Nkosi, with its head office in Gqeberha and offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

We made the change official in April 2026. Your contracts, audit reports, course certificates, phone numbers and email addresses have not changed. The new name says what most of our work already was: food safety consulting, auditing, training, labelling and regulatory advice for food businesses in South Africa and the countries around it.

ASC Food Safety Consultants is a South African company. We have no connection to any business with a similar name outside South Africa.

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What changed, and what stayed the same?

If your supplier file or vendor form lists us under an older name, update the trading name only. The registration number your finance team already holds is still correct, and our accounts team will send updated letterheads on request.

Why did ASC put food safety first in its name?

Because that is what clients ask us for. Most enquiries start with a food safety problem: a Certificate of Acceptability application, an FSSC 22000 or BRCGS audit coming up, a label going to print, a retailer asking for a supplier audit. People looking for that help type “food safety consultant”, not “public health consultant”, and a name should match the question.

Public health has not gone anywhere. Food safety is a branch of public health, our founder holds a Master of Public Health and is registered with the HPCSA as an Environmental Health Practitioner, and we still run public health consulting for municipalities and institutions, including the 2025 beach water quality study for Nelson Mandela Bay.

What does ASC Food Safety Consultants do?

Five things, run by one team, so that the system, the people, the paperwork and the label all tell the same story.

Food safety systems

Implementation and maintenance for FSSC 22000, ISO 22000, BRCGS, GLOBALG.A.P., HACCP and GMP, SIZA and ISO 9001. Our food science and technology support covers product development, reformulation, shelf life trials, sensory testing and process validation, with the label and nutrition table reconciled before artwork.

Audits

Gap audits before certification, internal audits, second party audits of a named supplier, GMP and ethical audits, and food hygiene audits for restaurants, kitchens and canteens, which carry ASC’s own hygiene rating and certificate rather than a scheme certification. Our audits are led by an Exemplar Global and IRCA registered lead auditor. ASC audits prepare you for certification. Only your certification body certifies.

Labels and regulatory opinions

A line by line R146 label review in five to seven business days, or 48 hours on the express option, plus claims assessments, import compliance and readiness work for the draft R3337 regulations. Changed a recipe? We re-check the declaration, ingredient order and nutrition table against the new formulation.

Training

Online courses from R420, including the SAATCA registered Persons in Charge course, aligned to the R638 person in charge training requirement. Certificates carry a QR code and download the day you pass. KFC, Jack’s Bagels and the Spur Corporation group train their teams with ASC, and so do environmental health practitioners.

Documents and software

Risk assessments from R690 and certification toolkits from R699: editable templates you complete for your own site. And ASCloud, the paperless food safety system built by our lead auditors, from R499 per site per month for R638 records and from R3,800 for a full document FSMS, plus a once-off setup fee from R3,850. Prices exclude VAT, and subscription fees carry a 60 day money back guarantee.

Did ASC launch the paperless system it promised?

It did. When we announced the new name in April 2026 we said a paperless food safety management system was coming. It is live as ASCloud, with web, Android and iPhone apps, named user sign offs, missed task alerts and scheme updates included on every plan. A standard single site with its documents supplied is set up in five working days. Your team then runs it and builds the records history your auditor will ask for. Every price is published, and you can book a 20 minute ASCloud demo with your own standard loaded.

Does ASC work outside South Africa?

Within clear limits, yes. Our three offices are in South Africa. Online courses can be taken anywhere with an internet connection. ASCloud shows prices in more than 20 currencies and has country guides for Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria, with regulator summaries for Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi on the Africa page.

For TotalEnergies we carried out a remote IFS ACE camp audit at the Afungi LNG site in Mozambique, across five full kitchen operations. Consulting and audit work outside South Africa is scoped and quoted with travel before it is booked.

How can I check that ASC is who it says it is?

The registrations and review counts below can be checked without phoning us.

• The SAATCA register of online training course providers lists ASC Food Safety Consultants as No. 065.
• SAATCA’s register of R638:2018 implementers lists Mthokozisi Nkosi (RG003) and ASC trainer Onele Kutu (RG004).
• Our FoodBev SETA Accredited Provider number is 587/00337/1900.
• Our Google reviews sit on three public profiles: Gqeberha, Johannesburg and Cape Town, the last still listed under our former name while we update it.
• All 2,579 course reviews are published, good and bad, newest first.
• Every ASC course certificate carries a QR code that opens its verification record.

Choosing between consultancies? Our companion guide, Best food safety consultancy in South Africa? The evidence, sets out nine checks to run on any firm.

“This training helped me to realize and understand the importance of food safety and food safety handling and regulations guiding them according to South African safety rules.”

Lekhotso April, Google review, 5 stars, October 2026

“Very helpful and information shared helps a lot to learn about the Food regulations and requirements…”

Leilani V., Persons in Charge course review, 5 stars, October 2026

KFC, the Spur Corporation group and Jack’s Bagels train with ASC. Kellogg’s, Adcock Ingram, SPAR, Pick n Pay and Shoprite use ASC for regulatory and labelling work.

Questions we are often asked

Is ASC Food Safety Consultants the same company as ASC Consultants?

Yes. ASC Food Safety Consultants is the trading name of ASC Consultants SA (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2018/407715/07, the same company that traded as ASC Consultants and ASC Public Health and Food Safety Consultants. The owner, team, offices and registration numbers are unchanged.

Are certificates issued under the old name still valid?

Course certificates and audit reports issued under our earlier names stay on record and can still be verified, by QR code or by emailing info@ascfoodsafety.com. How long a certificate is accepted depends on the certificate and on who is asking for it, such as your environmental health practitioner, your certification body or your customer.

Which ASC website should I use?

Use ascfoodsafety.com for consulting, audits, labelling advice, toolkits and ASCloud, and ascfoodsafetytraining.com to buy and take online courses. Older ascconsultants.co.za links open ascfoodsafety.com.

Does ASC still do public health work?

It does. Public health consulting, including water quality studies and municipal food control support, continues under the ASC Food Safety Consultants name.

Where are ASC’s offices?

Gqeberha (head office), 14 Brickmakers Kloof Road, South End, +27 41 004 0382. Johannesburg, Atrium Terraces, 272 Oak Avenue, Ferndale, Randburg, +27 10 500 4661. Cape Town, 183 Albion Springs, Rondebosch, +27 21 300 4024.