Produce safety cleaning and sanitizing workshop hosted in Holt, November 18
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EmailThe FSMA Produce Safety Rule requires growers to inspect, maintain, clean and sanitize all food contact surfaces of equipment and tools, but what does this mean? Join experts for this workshop focused on on-farm cleaning and sanitization best practices.
Many growers grapple with the common challenge of keeping food contact surfaces clean and sanitary. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule provides guidelines about what surfaces must be cleaned and sanitized (and why), but it does not dictate who must do the cleaning or how, when and where it should be done.
In conjunction with the Michigan On-Farm Produce Safety Team Professional Development Meeting, this one-day Cleaning and Sanitizing Workshop is open to growers and industry professionals working on produce safety. The workshop will be held Nov. 18, 2024 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Michigan State University Horticulture Teaching and Research Farm in Holt, Michigan. The cost to attend this hands-on workshop is $65 and includes lunch, training materials and a certificate of course completion.
Discussion topics will include cleaning and sanitizing equipment, developing cleaning and sanitizing programs, and pack-house food safety basics. Parts of the program will be hands-on to better understand how cleaning and sanitizing can get done on a farm. Workshop facilitators will provide a brief overview of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule with guidance to help participants understand current policies and requirements associated with cleaning and sanitizing of produce.
This hands-on workshop is open to farm personnel with cleaning and sanitizing responsibilities, farm owner/supervisors, extension and technical service employees, and representatives from regulatory agencies or industry.
Participants who attend the entire program will receive practical knowledge to improve their work as well as a certificate of course completion.
Pre-registration is required (no walk-ins please) and closes one week before the program date.
Register for the Cleaning and Sanitizing Workshop
Program questions? Contact Heather Borden with Michigan State University Extension at bordenhe@msu.edu.
Partial funding for this program was made possible by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through grant PAR-16-137.
This work is also supported by the Food Safety Outreach Program (Grant No. 2024-70020-42954) from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
