Happy National Food Safety Education Month! Every year since 1994, the food industry and food-related government agencies have come together in September to help educate consumers and colleagues about preventing foodborne illnesses.
No matter what part of the food industry you’re in, this is a great opportunity to increase your knowledge of food safety during processing and packaging.
Here are 5 resources to get you started.
1. FDA Food Industry Resource page
This FDA page provides links to a number of food safety resources, including a Q&A series with food safety experts, info about producing FDA-regulated food products, and the most recent recalls, market withdrawals, and safety alerts.
2. CFSAN Training Videos
The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition hosts a variety of videos on topics ranging from labeling requirements to import safety. These resources are useful for anyone involved in food safety, both domestically and internationally — many of the videos are available in multiple languages or with closed captioning.
3. Global Food Safety Resource (GFSR)
GFSR is an information hub for food safety information and solutions. Here, you’ll find everything from articles to whitepapers and webinars. It’s a members-only site, but membership is free.
4. Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH)
The IFSH at the Illinois Institute of Technology is a collaboration between academia, government, and the private sector. The institute is involved with a number of workshops, task forces, and training organizations, including the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA), which provides training and outreach to help companies comply with FSMA.
5. 3 Steps to Contamination Control in Food Processing [Webinar]
Most of the resources on this list are comprehensive sites that you could spend a long time exploring. But even just 1 hour is enough time to boost your food safety knowledge, by watching our recorded webinar “3 Steps to Contamination Control in Food Processing.”
Don’t have an hour to spare? You can still scroll through the Q&A for answers to top questions about keeping contaminants out of your food products.
For resources to educate consumers about food safety at home, visit Food Industry Executive.
However you choose to engage in National Food Safety Education Month, be sure to like and share resources on social media using the hashtags #FSEM, #NFSEM, and #FoodSafetyMonth.
