BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA AREA – HOOVER, LEEDS, BESSERMER, PELHAM, ALABASTER, CALERA
Food Manager Safety Training
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
9:00 am – 6:00pm
| ALABAMA REQUIREMENT: | ||||||||||||||||||
By 1/1/2011 Alabama Department of Health requires at least one person in charge in a Risk 3 or Risk 4 establishment shall be a certified food protection manager who has shown proficiency of required information through obtaining a food safety certificate by passing a food safety certification examination administered by an accredited certifying program recognized by the Conference for Food Protection. For multiple permitted establishments within one physical structure and under the same operation ownership, such as multiple departments within one retail grocery store, the permit holder or their designee may be any one person with supervisory authority over any department. Training can be done online or seminar style. Alabama Department of Health has approved HRBAudit to train and proctor ANSI-CFP programs in the state of Alabama. HRBAudit is a proud member of the Conference of Food Protection.
|
ServSafe® delivers high-quality training options for every manager. From the classroom to online, and in a variety of languages, this is your food safety training and certification solution. The ServSafe® Food Protection Manager Certification is nationally recognized and accredited. To date, more than 3 million ServSafe® Food Protection Manager Certifications have been awarded. See the advantages for yourself with an overview of ServSafe® Fifth Edition. You’ll discover this is the food safety training program that truly is “workforce ready.”
The NEHA (National Environmental Health Association) training program was created by food safety experts and based on the 2005 FDA Food Code with 2007/2009 Supplement, this well written text successfully prepares candidates to pass any of the CFP-ANSI accredited food safety manager exams. NEHA Food Safety Training uses the PROMETRIC proctored testing. The program concentrates on the emphasis on the hazards and risk that are critical items in your food service operation.
|
In an open letter to stakeholders Thursday, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack called for “a new paradigm of coexistence and cooperation” for both genetically engineered and non-GE agricultural approaches.
The letter comes just two weeks after the U.S. Department of Agriculture completed its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Monsanto’s Roundup Ready alfalfa, that status of which has been caught in litigation since 2005.
Farmers and the Center for Food Safety sued the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for deregulating the alfalfa without fully studying its impacts. The groups won a favorable ruling, which was upheld in appellate court, that barred GE alfalfa until the government adequately studied whether it could contaminate conventional and organic crops. Monsanto took the matter to the Supreme Court, which voted 7-1 to lift the ban, but also agreed that an impact statement was required.
“These actions have generated tremendous interest in USDA’s and my intentions regarding our ability to objectively regulate GE agricultural products and whether we are focused enough on science,” wrote Vilsack in the letter. ”I have tremendous confidence in our existing regulatory system and no doubts about the safety of the products this system has approved and will continue to approve.”
Vilsack also lamented that agriculture issues are “always complex” as he called for approaches for both GE and non-GE alfalfa production that are “reasonable and practical.”
“The rapid adoption of GE crops has clashed with the rapid expansion of demand for organic and other non-GE products. This clash led to litigation and uncertainty,” wrote Vilsack, adding that the fight between GE and non-GE alfalfa should not be a zero sum equation.
“Surely, there is a better way, a solution that acknowledges agriculture’s complexity, while celebrating and promoting its diversity. By continuing to bring stakeholders together in an attempt to find common ground where the balanced interests of all sides could be advanced, we at USDA are striving to lead an effort to forge a new paradigm based on coexistence and cooperation,” he added. “If successful, this effort can ensure that all forms of agriculture thrive so that food can remain abundant, affordable, and safe.”
A Texas produce company that has already recalled some 7,000 cases of Salmonella-tainted cilantro and curly parsley has now recalled 18 other vegetables and leafy greens, all processed on the same packing lines.
J&D Produce Inc. announced Wednesday that the possibility of cross contamination prompted it to also recall arugula, beets, collards, mustard, daikon, dill, kohlrabi, chard, kale, mint, turnips and leeks shipped to 16 states and two Canadian provinces.
“It’s imperative to protect public health, even if that means being overzealous in expanding the scope of the products we’re calling back,” said James Bassetti, president of J&D Produce Inc., in a news release. “We will work closely with regulators, health officials and our customers in bringing back the products.”
All the produce was packed in red, white, and blue waxed cartons under the Little Bear brand. Except for daikon, the individual bunches have a rubber band or a twist tie identified by a flag tag that shows a little bear with a cowboy hat, a red handkerchief and a Texas flag. The produce went to retail stores and wholesale terminal markets in Washington, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Missouri, Rhode Island, New York, Texas, Ohio, Connecticut, Ohio, Colorado, Illinois and Oklahoma — and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
All the produce was packed either on Nov. 30, 2010, or Dec. 6, 2010, which is a clarification from the company’s announcement earlier this week. The company says most of these types of greens are typically sold and eaten within about 14 days from their “pack dates”; however, it suggests that if consumers still have any of the produce it should be destroyed or returned to the store where it was purchased for a full refund.
The products being recalled, their PLU/UPC numbers, and the areas where they were distributed are:
CURLY PARSLEY, PLU # 4899, Ontario, Washington. Massachusetts, Quebec, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Missouri, Rhode Island, New York, Texas, Ohio, Connecticut
CILANTRO, PLU #4889, Ontario, Massachusetts, Washington, Quebec, New York, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio
ARUGULA, PlU #4884, Ontario, Rhode Island, Texas
BEETS, PLU # 4539, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ontario, Wisconsin, Quebec, Texas, Illinois, Rhode Island
COLLARDS, PLU # 4614, Ontario, Texas, Wisconsin, Quebec, Michigan, OhioCURLY MUSTARD, PLU # 4616, Quebec, Texas
DAIKON, does not contain PLU or UPC, Ontario, New York, Texas, Quebec
DILL, PLU # 4891, Ontario, Massachusetts, Quebec, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, New Jersey, Wisconsin
GOLDEN BEETS, PLU # 3273, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Texas
GREEN KOHLRABI, PLU # 4628, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Wisconsin
GREEN SWISS CHARD, PLU # 4586, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Rhode Island, Texas
KALE, PLU # 4627, Ontario, Quebec, Texas, Wisconsin, Montreal, Michigan, Illinois, Rhode Island, New York, Ohio, Toronto
LEEK, PLU # 4629 Texas
METHlLEAF, UPC # 664781 10500 4, Ontario, Texas
MINT, PLU # 4896, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan
PARSLEY, PLU # 4901, Ontario, Washington, Quebec, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut
RAINBOW CHARD, UPC # 66478140610 1, Illinois, Connecticut
RED SWISS CHARD, PLU # 4587, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Ontario, Quebec, Rhode Island, Texas
TEXAS MUSTARD, PLU # 4618, Oklahoma, Texas
TURNIPS WITH TOPS, PLU #4810, Texas, Michigan
TURNIP TOPS, PLU # 4619, Texas
“We’re all seeing increased inspections by regulators and health officials here in the U.S. and Canada, and that’s positive because it helps further ensure public health,” Bassetti said in a prepared statement. ”We’ve already implemented immediate measures to make sure we minimize the likelihood of this re-occurring.” For example, the company said that upon learning of the test in Quebec, Bassetti ordered the shut down of all production lines; re-sanitized the production lines; increased manual inspections; and implemented additional product rinse steps.
Bassetti said be has also brought in outside consultants to review and advise the company on additional microbiological sampling and its food safety protocols.
“We have a good track record, but we’ll bring our expectations and standards to even bigger levels,” he said.
For additional information, contact J&D Produce by email at: qa@littlebearproduce.com or by phone at 956-380-0353.
The number of people now believed ill from an outbreak strain of Salmonella associated with alfalfa sprouts is 94, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration have said preliminary results of the investigation indicate a link to eating Tiny Greens brand alfalfa sprouts at Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwich restaurant outlets.
In its update report on the outbreak the CDC said that through Dec. 27, 94 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:-, whose illnesses began since Nov. 1, have been reported from 16 states and the District of Columbia.
The CDC said 51 people have been identified with the outbreak strain in Illinois, 17 in Missouri, nine in Indiana, three in Wisconsin and two in Pennsylvania with single cases in California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Case-patients range in age from 1 to 75 years, with a median age of 28. Sixty-one (67 percent) of the patients are female. Among those with available information, 24 percent reported being hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
The CDC cautioned that because the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern associated with this particular Salmonella serotype commonly occurs in the United States, some of the cases identified may not be related to this outbreak.
But it also said that illnesses that occurred after Dec. 7 might not be reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported, which takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks.
Last week Jimmy John’s exec Jimmy John Liautaud asked that alfalfa sprouts be removed from menus at Illinois franchise restaurants as a precautionary measure. Although Liautaud and Tiny Greens owner Bill Bagby have said tests on their products have been negative for Salmonella, Bagby told USA Today Tuesday that he plans to comply with FDA’s request for a recall.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has obtained two more convictions for violations of legislation it is charged with enforcing.
Convictions of Claude Berni, president of Uni-Viande Inc., and a company called Boucherie M. Rhéaume Inc., brings CFIA’s total prosecutions for the year to 15.
In both cases, the Court of Quebec imposed fines as sentences. One company was also ordered to destroy its product.
Berni was fined $10,000 in conjunction with his earlier plea of guilty for one count of violating Canada’s Meat Inspection Act.
The successful prosecution involved the charge CFIA made against Berni on April 28, 2006.
He was convicted of making a false or misleading declaration to an inspector in writing, thereby contravening subsection 14(1) of the Meat Inspection Act. The declaration indicated that the meat to be exported consisted of pork fat rather than pork meat.
Uni-Viande is a 27-year-old pork, veal, and poultry processor serving both hotel and food service chains. It is located in Sant-Jean-Sur-Richellieu, Quebec.
Boucherie M. Rhéaume Inc., located in Lac-Saint-Charles, Quebec, was fined $3,000, and ordered to destroy about $4,000 worth of meat products.
According to CFIA, the offense, which occurred on June 4, 2008, involved packaging meat products in a misleading manner likely to create an erroneous impression regarding their nature or composition.
Boucherie M. Rhéaume Inc., a non-federally registered establishment, packaged meat products in boxes bearing the meat inspection legend without authorization, thereby contravening subsection 5(1) of the Food and Drugs Act.
CFIA is responsible for enforcing a variety of legislation, including Canada’s Meat Inspection Act and the Food and Drugs Act.
The Meat Inspection Act governs, among others, the import, export and interprovincial trade of meat products.
In this regard, the CFIA carries out activities that include conducting inspections and verifying the labeling compliance of meat products intended for export.
The Food and Drugs Act prohibits the packaging of food in a manner likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its nature or composition.
Among other things, this act is intended to protect consumers against economic fraud and product misrepresentation related to food.
CFIA issues prosecution bulletins when a conviction is obtained.
