New Dairy Food Safety Training On Pathogen Control Can Help Industry Meet Requirements Of Food Safety Modernization Act Regulations

 

By Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy Rosemont, Ill. - A new training program offered by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy^® provides dairy processors education on best practices and techniques for in-plant pathogen control, to better meet stringent food safety regulations under the recently passed Food Safety Modernization Act. The training workshops, developed by food safety experts from 10 dairy processors, cooperatives and manufacturers, and IDFA, will kick off with the Dairy Plant Food Safety Workshop July 26-27 in Rosemont, Ill., followed by another session Sept. 21-22 in Atlanta, Ga.

 

Pathogen-control guidelines, principles, techniques and approaches for the dairy plant will be the main focus for the workshop, along with food-safety fundamentals on sanitation, sanitary design, development of standard operating procedures, environmental monitoring techniques, and case studies. Food safety experts from several industry companies will deliver the training, which provides hands-on experience for immediate implementation once participants return to their plants.

Registration information for both the July and September training sessions can be found on IDFA’s website, and processors are encouraged to sign up soon to secure a slot.

“The members of the Food Safety Operating Committee bring tremendous leadership and technical knowledge to the committee’s work and this education initiative,” said Tom Hedge, chair of the Food Safety Operating Committee of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, and vice president, technologies for Schreiber Foods, Inc. “What has been particularly impressive is the spirit of collaboration and sharing of food safety experiences and best practices to build this training. The industry’s best interests are clearly a top priority with this team: it’s about food safety performance that maintains consumer confidence in dairy products.”

“Consumers today express high confidence in safety of milk and other dairy products,” commented Larry Jensen, chair of the Innovation Center. “In the dairy industry, we aspire to even higher standards. Through the Innovation Center’s food safety efforts in partnership with IDFA, we are reinforcing our industry’s commitment to further improve the safety of our products now and in the future.”

Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy^® is a forum for the dairy industry to work together pre-competitively to address barriers and opportunities to foster innovation and increase sales. The Innovation Center aligns the collective resources of the industry to offer consumers nutritious dairy products and ingredients, and promote the health of people, communities, the planet and the industry. The Board of Directors for the Innovation Center includes 32 leaders representing 31 key U.S. producer organizations, dairy