|
Dr. Sue Snider, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, will provide food safety training for potential on-farm food entrepreneurs during a scheduled two-session, eight-hour training, 6-10 p.m., Tuesday, April 8, and Thursday April 10, or a one-session, eight-hour training, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday, April 5. All training sessions will take place at the Delaware Department of Agriculture, 2320 S. Dupont Highway, Dover. Participants must complete eight hours of training and pass a written test on the materials presented in order to receive a certificate.
As a result of training in food safety, participants will be able to:
• Identify potentially and non-potentially hazardous foods.
• Appreciate foodborne pathogens and understand ways to control them,
• Apply the basic principles to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
• Evaluate a plan for controlling potential microbial problems in an operation, and
• Understand requirements of the new regulations for farm-produced food items.
In January 2006, Delaware’s new regulations governing On-Farm Home Processing of Non-Potentially Hazardous Foods were adopted. Farmers who wish to process non-potentially hazardous foods in their home kitchens for sale to the public at farmers’ markets, on-farm markets or roadside stands must abide by these regulations. These regulations established standards of practice for on-farm home food processing operations that safeguard public health and provide consumers with food that is safe, unadulterated and honestly presented.
The regulations provide definitions, define operator qualifications and establish operation food safety and physical facility requirements.
Under the regulations, potential on-farm food entrepreneurs will be required to have eight hours of food safety training and have their farm kitchens inspected.
Copies of these regulations and applications are available on the Delaware Department of Agriculture website, http://dda.delaware.gov.
On-farm kitchens will be inspected by appointment.
For more information, to register for a workshop or to receive a copy of the regulations, call Sheree Nichols at the Delaware Department of Agriculture at 800-282-8685.
|
