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<OL> <LI> To develop, distribute and evaluate an industry survey designed to obtain information from food processors, wholesalers and distributors on how they could best utilize an on-demand Internet training course on sanitation, GMPs and GHPs. <LI> To develop an interactive internet-based distance education training and certificate program on sanitation, GMPs and GHPs for production employees in food processing, wholesale, distribution and warehouse facilities. <LI> To develop, test and complete a Spanish language version of the Internet based training program on sanitation, GMP and GHPs for food processing plant workers for whom Spanish is their first language. <LI> To develop short topic-specific training modules that firms can use to conduct additional in-plant training that can be customized to incorporate plant-specific sanitation procedures and employee hygiene and food handling policies. <LI> To conduct outreach activities across the U.S. to inform the target audiences about the new Internet training course. <LI> To evaluate the Internet training course and its impact.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Basic worker training is essential to ensure that employee practices consistently and effectively prevent rather than contribute to incidents of finished product contamination in the food handling and processing environment that could cause foodborne illness. According to a May 11, 2004 Progress Review of the Department of Health and Human Services' Food Safety focus area of the Healthy People 2010 initiative, small-scale producers account for only 10 percent of the food supply but 90 percent of the outbreaks of foodborne illness. This training program will particularly benefit small to medium size food processing, wholesale/distribution and warehouse firms who may frequently have to rely on unskilled workers and experience frequent employee turnover. This project is also timely, as it will incorporate any changes associated with the Food and Drug Administration's GMP modernization process. The goal of this project is to integrate research and extension outreach knowledge from previous food safety programs to develop a national Internet based distance education training and certification program on sanitation, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and Good Hygienic Practices (GHPs) for production employees in small, medium and large food processing, wholesale and warehouse firms. This distance education program will be available on-demand via the Internet at low cost (estimate $50 or less).
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APPROACH: A national Internet-based distance education training program on sanitation, good manufacturing practices, and good hygienic practices for production employees who work in food processing, wholesale and warehouse firms will be developed. This training program will be available on demand via the Internet at low cost and will provide basic food plant worker training on the employee practices and procedures that are necessary to consistently and effectively prevent incidents of finished food product contamination that could lead to food borne illness. The project will develop an industry survey to obtain information from target audiences to determine how they could most effectively use this type of training. This information and prior project team experience will be used to develop an interactive Internet based training course for food plant workers in English and Spanish. Short topic-specific training modules that can be customized to incorporate plant-specific procedures and policies will be produced and made available to everyone who completes the Internet course to use for additional in-plant training activities for production workers. The training program will incorporate any changes in recommended practices that are developed as a result of the current FDA good manufacturing practices modernization initiative. The availability of this training program will be widely announced to the food industry and evaluated on an on-going basis by collecting evaluation data from workers as they complete the Internet course.
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