Under European Food Safety Regulation 178/2002, Article 14 it states “Food shall not be placed on the market if it is unsafe or unfit for human consumption.” As bacteria are the major cause of food being unsafe, it is essential that those persons...
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Under European Food Safety Regulation 178/2002, Article 14 it states “Food shall not be placed on the market if it is unsafe or unfit for human consumption.” As bacteria are the major cause of food being unsafe, it is essential that those persons responsible for producing safe food have some knowledge of bacteria. Historically the majority of personnel who held these responsibilities studied a Food Science or Microbiology related discipline in a third level College or University. This however is no longer the case as many graduates with engineering, supply chain and financial backgrounds or non-graduates who have progressed to managerial positions are now in charge of food manufacturing processes and factories where the biggest threat to the business or the consumer is E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria just to name a few.
If one is in charge of producing food that is governed by law where microbiological criteria are specified, it is vital to know ones legal obligations. This course will give delegates an understanding of how bacteria grow, unique characteristics of some bacteria and most importantly how they can be controlled. A simple method of microbiological risk assessment will be explained so that risk based decisions can be made which will be in the interest of the business and consumer alike.
A lot of microbiological testing is carried out as part of validation, monitoring, verification and positive release activities. What often causes problems is how to interpret micro results when received from an external laboratory. Micro results are either acceptable, borderline or unacceptable. Knowing which category the results belong to can often be challenging. USDA regulations use the phrase “management components” regarding food safety. Monitoring, Corrective Action and Verification are the three management component “elements”. Knowing what corrective action to be taken when micro results are borderline or unsatisfactory is critical as corrective action and preventive action (CAPA) are paramount in the compliance or improvement processes. The FSAI Guidance Note 3 for Interpretation of Results of Microbiological Testing for Ready to Eat (RTE) food placed on the market will be the main reference source for this training course.
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