In response to industry demand, the Prince Edward Island Food Technology Centre is partnering with the Atlantic Food and Beverage Processors Association to present a series of industry training workshops aimed at preventing the occurrence of Listeria in food products.
These workshops will be held in Atlantic Canada, on October 27 in Halifax/Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; on October 30 in Moncton, New Brunswick; on November 6 and 7 in St. John's, Newfoundland; and on November 13 in St. George, New Brunswick. The workshop was presented recently in Prince Edward Island and will be offered again later in the fall.
The workshops will help food processing facilities establish and implement effective programs to reduce and prevent Listeria monocytogenes contamination of food products. The Food Technology Centre (FTC) offers a range of food safety workshops including customized workshops in processing plants.
The Food Technology Centre works on a cost-recovery basis and charges fees for services provided to clients. The fee for the Listeria workshop is $325.
“The recent workshop held in Prince Edward Island on the control of Listeria in food processing plants was very successful,” said Dr. Jim Smith, Director of the Food Technology Centre. “And it prompted us to offer the workshop further afield to meet the demand from industry for practical professional development in appropriate control, cleaning and sanitation practices.”
Richard Brown, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning, said the Food Technology Centre has the expertise to help the food industry in the region improve food safety.
“The Government of Prince Edward Island is pleased to play a role in promoting food safety and developing value-added products for export around the world,” said Minister Brown. “The Food Technology Centre has valuable scientific expertise it can offer to the food industry in Atlantic Canada to ensure high quality, safe food products are available to consumers locally and around the world.”
“This workshop is a great opportunity for our industry members to keep up to date with the latest control systems, cleaning and sanitation practices available,” said Don Newman, Executive Director of the Atlantic Food and Beverage Processors Association Inc. “The response by the food industry to the workshop has been extraordinary.”
For more information, visit www.gov.pe.ca/ftc
ABOUT THE FOOD TECHNOLOGY CENTRE:
The Prince Edward Island Food Technology Centre (FTC) was established in 1987 to provide technical support to the food processing industry on Prince Edward Island. Since then, FTC has strategically developed its infrastructure and has attained recognition as a quality technology provider to its many local, regional, national and international clients. FTC continues to improve its services to the food processing industry in areas of food product and process development and laboratory services, and now has expertise and infrastructure in place for bio-resource upgrading including extraction technologies and fermentation. The Food Technology Centre is an ISO 9001:2000 registered company, providing consistent quality to its clients. FTC is also recognized as a HACCP Food Safety Training Centre by the Safe Quality Food Institute.
Situated on Canada’s east coast in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the 20,000 square foot facility is located within a scientific community that includes the University of Prince Edward Island, NRC Institute of Nutrisciences and Health, Canadian Food Inspection Agency Laboratory (Centre for Animal and Plant Health), and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Crops and Livestock Research Station.