The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy released its 2017 schedule of food safety training for the dairy industry. The workshops are intended to strengthen manufacturing practices and protect consumers. 

Registration information, including costs, can be found at www.usdairy.com/events.

Participants in the Dairy Plant Food Safety Workshops will learn best practices and practical approaches for pathogen control through short lectures and hands-on small group exercises, which include environmental monitoring, sanitary designs and developing SSOPs.  The dates and locations are:

• March 7 to 8 in Visalia, Calif. Hosts are Hilmar, Leprino Foods and California Dairies Inc.
• April 25 to 26 in Portland, Ore. Hosts are Darigold and Tillamook.
• June 6 to 7 in Baraboo, Wis. Hosts are Foremost Farms and Sargento Foods.
• Aug. 1 to 2 in New Berlin, N.Y.  Hosts are HP Hood and Chobani.
• Oct. 3 to 4 in Dallas. Host is Saputo Dairy.

All workshops cover both wet and dry product operations, but the Visalia session will specifically focus on dry powder operations.

In addition to the Dairy Plant Food Safety Workshops, a series of Supplier Food Safety Management Workshops are designed for dairy companies and their suppliers who are seeking to assure the food safety performance of their supply network. They will be held in Rosemont, Ill., on May 23 and 24 and Sept. 19 to 20.

These are designed to help companies identify, quantify and mitigate risks from ingredients, packaging, equipment and services. These workshops provide a science-based template to develop a Supply-Chain Program and Supply Chain preventive controls aligned with the Food Safety Modernization Act, with elements including:  identifying potential hazards, assessing if systems are in place to control identified hazards, and assessing supplier performance/FDA compliance history. 

The Innovation Center also has developed a Listeria Control Guidance. It can be downloaded at http://www.usdairy.com/foodsafety. The guide follows “The Pathogen Equation,” which is also the core of the Dairy Plant Food Safety workshop.