In September, the Food and Drug Administration will begin to require dairy plants to have at least one employee who is considered to be a “Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI),”  responsible for developing and overseeing the plant’s food safety plan. This requirement falls under the final preventive controls for human food rule stemming from the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

To help dairy companies prepare for compliance, IDFA has partnered with Mérieux NutriSciences to host the “FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food Course,” June 14-16, in Nashville, Tenn. Conducted by instructors trained under the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) curriculum, the course will allow food safety and quality professionals to complete training in the development and application of risk-based preventive controls in order to meet FDA’s requirements and become a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI).

“The course uses the only curriculum recognized by FDA and incorporates industry-specific information that will be valuable to dairy professionals,” said John Allan, vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards, who will be one of the course instructors. “The training will ensure that dairy plants will be in compliance when the regulations come into force in September and will deliver the information most important to maintaining a robust food safety program. I encourage all professionals responsible for or involved in the development of food safety plans to attend.”  

Sessions

Attendees will learn to develop, implement and manage their facilities’ food safety plans in compliance with the FDA requirements. The sessions will address key questions about compliance with the preventive controls rule, including:

• How prerequisite programs and the updated current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations relate to a food safety plan;
• How to identify hazards requiring preventive controls, then determine and implement the appropriate preventive controls necessary to control those hazards;
• How to monitor preventive controls and apply effective corrective actions to root causes to provide assurances that the controls work properly;
• How verification and validation of preventive controls should be included in a food safety plan; and
• Which records must be maintained and included as part of a food safety plan.

For more details and to register, visit the FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food Course.

For more information, contact Allan at jallan@idfa.org.