No replies to this topic

[Newsgirl]

Contact: Ken Gall, New York Sea Grant, Seafood Specialist, 631-632-8730
STONY BROOK, NY, -– Today, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) and Cornell Cooperative Extension launched a new Internet-based training course on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) regulation for the processing, packing or holding of human food. “The course is designed for supervisors, middle level managers, quality control staff and anyone else responsible for ensuring that a food processing, wholesale or warehouse operations meet current GMP requirements,” says Ken Gall, NYSG’s Seafood Specialist.

This GMP regulation, which applies to all FDA-regulated food products, addresses the basic sanitary controls required for all processing plants, wholesale or distribution firms and warehouses or storage facilities to ensure that the food they process, handle or store is safe and wholesome. The regulation also provides a framework for the state regulations that may apply to these firms, and other regulations for specific types of foods.

The new online training course consists of 12 modules covering each section of the FDA regulation along with an explanation of its intent, examples and strategies for compliance with these requirements and resources for additional information. The course, for which a Spanish language version will be available by this Fall, is designed to accommodate a variety of different learning styles. Students can view the course materials “live” on the Internet, download files to their computer or use the “audio” feature to hear the course content read to them by a professional narrator. An innovative interactive feature, called GMP TV, is used throughout the course to demonstrate important concepts and conditions that must be maintained in a food processing, handling or storage operation.

Students can register and pay the $50 course fee online or by mail. A discount is available for groups who plan to train 20 or more people from the same company or organization at the same time. To register and learn more about this new Internet training course go to: http://gmptraining.aem.cornell.edu. Upon completion of the course, students will receive a certificate via e-mail. This certificate will be issued to the individual person who registered for the course, and will contain the name of the company or organization they are affiliated with and the date of completion.

New York Sea Grant Specialist Ken Gall led the national team that developed this course in collaboration with: Steve Kern, Web designer for the Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University; Debra DeVlieger, national food specialist with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in Seattle, WA; Doris Hicks of the University of Delaware; Dr. Lori Pivarnik of the University of Rhode Island; Dr. Mike Jahncke and Abigail Villalba of Virginia Tech; Barry Nash and Dr. Dave Green of North Carolina State University; and Victor Garrido and Dr. Steve Otwell of the University of Florida. This project was partially funded by a grant awarded to Cornell University in 2005 from the National Integrated Food Safety Initiative of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (Grant No. 2005-51110-03291).

New York Sea Grant is part of a nationwide network of over 30 university-based programs that work with coastal communities through NOAA. Sea Grant research and outreach programs promote better understanding, conservation and use of America's coastal resources. Sea Grant is funded in NY through SUNY and Cornell University and federally through the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).



http://www.extension...fm?newsid=25200