HAMPTON, Va., Aug. 22, 2017 (PRNewswire) — Registrar Corp will offer a two-part Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) Online Certification in collaboration with the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA). This opportunity is limited to 25 participants. Sign up today.
What is a PCQI and why do food facilities need one?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized the Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in late 2015. The rule requires manufacturers, processors, and packers of certain foods for consumption in the United States to meet a new food safety standard: Hazard Analysis and Risk-based Preventive Controls (HARPC). Food facilities must develop and implement HARPC Food Safety Plans that address the biological, chemical (including radiological), and physical hazards associated with the foods they handle and include preventive controls meant to prevent or reduce the identified hazards.
Subject facilities must designate a PCQI to oversee the development and implementation of Food Safety Plans, in addition to other requirements. According to the rule, the PCQI is "a qualified individual who has successfully completed training in the development and application of risk-based preventive controls at least equivalent to that received under a standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by FDA or is otherwise qualified through job experience to develop and apply a food safety system" (21 C.F.R. § 117.3).
Many businesses were required to comply with FDA's Preventive Controls Rule in September 2016. Small businesses, defined as enterprises with fewer than 500 full-time equivalent employees, must comply by September 18, 2017.
About the Online Certification
In order to facilitate compliance for subject food businesses worldwide, Registrar Corp will offer PCQI training completely online. The two-part course consists of an online module through the FSPCA which registrants complete at their own pace, and a daylong live webinar with Preventive Controls for Human Food Lead Instructor David K. Park on Thursday, November 7th, 2017.
Food facilities worldwide will find this unique online format convenient and affordable as opposed to the commonly found in-person, three-day workshops. Registrar Corp plans to add additional dates for live webinars in the future.
About the Lead Instructor: David K. Park
Park received a food science degree from Purdue University in 1972 and currently serves as an industry instructor for the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) Better Process Control Schools, the University of Maryland Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) International Training Programs and University of MD Nutrition and Food Science Department. In 2016, Park was elected as Alternate Councilor-At-Large for Phi Tau Sigma Food Science Honorary, is a Lifetime Member and also appointed an Adjunct Expert for the Food Protection and Defense Institute (FPDI) at the University of Minnesota.