UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Extension will offer two food safety workshops for dairy foods processors on successive days in August at the Erickson Food Science Building on Penn State’s University Park campus.
Dairy Basics: Fundamentals of Quality and Safety will take place Aug. 27, and Hazard Analysis and Preventive Controls for Small-Scale Dairy Processors will occur Aug. 28.
These workshops are designed for small-scale dairy food processors, entrepreneurs starting a value-added dairy foods business, and others in the industry with a need for training in basic dairy food handling and safety principles. The workshops can be taken individually or together at a special rate.
Participants in the one-day Dairy Basics workshop will gain knowledge of milk properties and factors important to producing quality dairy products. Instructors will review good manufacturing practices — often referred to as GMPs — and principles of cleaning and sanitizing that are key to manufacturing safe dairy products, including how to write sanitation standard operating procedures and best practices for recordkeeping.
Participants in the one-day Hazard Analysis and Preventive Controls workshop will gain an understanding of the food safety elements required by the Food Safety Modernization Act for small-scale dairy food processors. This workshop will cover food safety practices required by all dairy processors and the elements of food safety plans that are relevant to small processors. Instructors will review dairy hazards, provide an introduction to preventive controls, and outline the processes of how to conduct a hazard analysis, determine appropriate preventive controls, and write a recall plan.
Participation in this workshop is limited to processors who have their written GMPs in place and with employees who have basic food safety training. If participants’ facilities do not meet these requirements, they may register for the Aug. 27 Dairy Basics workshop and take the workshops back-to-back.
For general and registration information, see the course website or contact the Conferences and Short Courses Office in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences at 877-865-8301 or [email protected]. For questions regarding course content, contact Kerry Kaylegian, associate research professor in the Department of Food Science at [email protected].
–Alexandra McLaughlin
Penn State Ag Sciences News
[email protected]
