Good, safe foods

Artisan and farmstead cheesemakers learn GMPs at food safety courses

The workshops are one of several food safety initiatives that are being offered through the Innovation Center for US Dairy to assure the dairy industry continues to provide consumers and channels a safe and nutritional food/beverage product.

By the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy

In a continued effort to provide food safety training to the artisan/farmstead cheesemaking segment of the dairy industry, the Innovation Center for US Dairy has scheduled two additional regional food safety workshops. The first will be held on Oct. 22, 2014 at Western Kentucky University at the WKU Agriculture Expo Center in Bowling Green, Ky. The second will be held on Nov.19, 2014 at Virginia Tech University at the Inn at Virginia Tech at Blacksburg, Va.

The workshops are one of several food safety initiatives that are being offered through the Innovation Center for US Dairy to assure the dairy industry continues to provide consumers and channels a safe and nutritional food/beverage product. With the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, HACCP-based food safety plans and related pre-requisite programs will become a regulatory requirement. Dr. Dennis D’Amico, Assistant Professor of Animal Science at UConn will be the instructor.

This training builds upon core knowledge of dairy hygiene, essential good manufacturing and hygiene practices, sanitation standard operating procedures and other preventive controls to help producers better understand their operations and the related risks. This course aims to help artisan cheese producers improve their food safety practices by preventing, monitoring and reducing food safety related risks in critical areas before they become regulatory or affect the consumer. The main focal points of this class include the discussion of bacteriostatic and bactericidal control points in the manufacture of cheese, validating and verifying the efficacy of said preventive controls, environmental pathogen control and monitoring as well as raw ingredient and product pathogen testing.

A complete listing of the IC’s artisan/farmstead food safety workshops are as follows:

June 6. Storrs, Conn. Co-host: New England Dairy Promotion Board, University of Connecticut
June 17. E. Lansing, Mich. Co-host: United Dairy Industry of Michigan, Michigan State Dept. of Agriculture, Michigan State University
Aug. 27. Ithaca, N.Y. Co-host: American Dairy Assoc. and Dairy Council
Oct. 22. Bowling Green, Ky. Co-host Southeast United Dairy Industry Association
Nov. 4. Kansas City, Mo. Co-host: Midwest Dairy Assoc. / Dairy Practices Council
Nov. 19. Blacksburg, Va. Co-host Southeast United Dairy Industry Association

Workshop cost is $49 and recommended for artisan/farmstead cheesemakers, retail and foodservice buyers of cheese products, and extension and support personnel who are interested in artisan and farmstead food safety programs.

For more information or to register, visit www.dairyevents.com or contact Tom O’Connell at Tom@marketingcpts.com.