The 2023 Food Safety Summit, the premiere event for thousands of food safety professionals, has announced five pre-event certificate courses to be offered on Monday, May 8, 2023 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. Two FSPCA Certificate courses, Preventative Controls for Animal Food Training and the Foreign Supplier Verification Program, have been added to three returning courses including HACCP Training, Food Fraud Prevention, andCertified Professional – Food Safety (CP-FS) review course. The following are descriptions for these five pre-Summit courses: 

• NEW – FSPCA Preventive Controls for Animal Food Training – The Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-based Preventive Controls for Food for Animals regulation (referred to as the Preventive Controls for Animal Food, or PCAF rule) is in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 507 (21 CFR Part 507). The PCAF rule is intended to ensure safe manufacturing, processing, packing, and holding of animal food products in the U.S.  This 20-hour class is held over 2.5 days and includes an exam.   Certificate of completion presented by FSPCA.

• NEW – FSMA FSPCA Foreign Supplier Verification Program – As audits are on the rise and regulations are being strongly enforced, it is more important than ever to know how to implement the requirements of the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) for importers of Food for Humans and Animals regulation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and this workshop will do just that. This course is designed for U.S.‐based importers who meet the definition of “importer” in the FSVP rule, which includes those who own or are the consignee of food at the time of entry or, if no owner or consignee exists, the U.S. agent or representative of the foreign owner. It is also for others who have an interest in ensuring that the requirements of the FSVP rule are met, including brokers, exporters, foreign suppliers of food that will be exported to the U.S., persons/business owners who currently buy food from foreign sources, and representatives of foreign governments. This two-day course includes a certificate of completion presented by FSPCA.

• Certified Professional – Food Safety (CP-FS) Credential Review Course – This course was developed by industry experts from across the country to provide participants with a review of the knowledge and skills necessary to pass the CP-FS Credential Exam. It also provides a solid overview of food safety standards and practices. This course provides the knowledge and skills necessary to help ensure safe food in any retail environment – as a quality assurance or quality control manager, a facility manager, a food-safe chemical supplier, or as a regulatory inspector/investigator.  This two-day review course is presented by the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA).

• Food Fraud Prevention Workshop and Certificate Course – Food fraud prevention is one of the most urgent and misunderstood food industry topics. This workshop begins with an overview of the food fraud problem before quickly shifting from “how to catch food fraud” to “how to prevent food fraud from occurring in the first place.” Building upon that overview, the afternoon will shift to conducting the food fraud vulnerability assessment. This assessment is a requirement for the Food Safety Certifications such as BRC, FSSC22000, IFS, SQF and others. These standards are based on the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmark. The workshop ends with a focus on the Food Fraud Prevention Strategy and full implementation of a management system. This is a one-day course with a certificate provided by the Food Fraud Prevention Think Tank.

• HACCP Training –  This course covers information needed for writing a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) Plan as required by USDA for FSIS-regulated meat, poultry, or egg products or for those producing foods under GFSI-format 3rd party audits requiring a HACCP certified individual to oversee their food safety plan. Participants will gain information for creating, implementing, and documenting a HACCP program.  This 20-hour class is held over 2.5 days and includes an exam.  Certificate provided by the International HACCP Alliance.

The pre-Summit courses include breakfast, lunch and breaks, books/training material and certificate. Multi-Day course registration includes access to the Food Safety Summit education sessions, exhibit hall, and networking functions during non-course hours. To take advantage of early bird pricing, click here, to register before Friday, March 31, 2023. 

The 2023 program will offer a wide range of topics impacting industry professionals including root cause analysis, leadership skills, advancements in sanitation, traceability, AI and data gathering, and much more. On Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 am–2:30 pm, there will be dedicated Exhibit Hall time for attendees to learn about new solutions, engage in small group discussions in the Community Hub, attend free presentations by food safety experts in the Solutions Stages and in the Tech Tent, enjoy lunch, and network. For access to the full program and for attendee registration, visit  https://www.food-safety.com/food-safety-summit.