The PEI Food Technology Centre is now offering hands-on training and consultancy in food safety and quality management systems for food processing and food service companies.
Increasing demands for food safety and quality by consumers and regulators are forcing food processors to respond. The development and implementation of logical and preventive management systems are the 90's way to deal with these demands; and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) programs are the answer. This system was modelled after the FEMA (failure effects mode analysis) system of the automobile industry - "what went wrong, why, how to prevent it next time." HACCP focuses on known hazards for the product and process, and the development and implementation of prevention strategies.
Food companies can no longer sit on the fence. Processors exporting meat, fish or poultry to the United States are now required to have HACCP. By October 1, 1998, Fisheries & Oceans will require all federally registered fish and seafood plants to have completed a hazard analysis on each of their product lines and to have developed complete HACCP plans for products having significant hazards. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada also has a HACCP requirement. While their Food Safety Enhancement Program (FSEP) remains voluntary, many federally registered plants are finding that customer demand is prompting them to adopt a HACCP approach to food safety management.
The industry journal Food Quality (November 1995) is quite clear. "You'd better know HACCP if you plan to do business in the next century."
In the upcoming weeks and months, the Food Technology Centre will be offering specific training courses for food companies, and will be available for consultation in all areas of food safety and quality management. Eligible companies may be able to access funding for this work under the PEI Food Products Development Fund, which is administered by the centre.
"It is important that the Food Technology Centre is responsive to the needs of the industry," notes Wes MacAleer, Minister of Economic Development and Tourism. "These types of services contribute significantly to the development and long-term success of our Island food industries."