By: Kimberly Bukowski, Extension Support Specialist, Cornell Dairy Foods Extension

This spring Cornell Food Science will be offering a semester-long course that will teach and certify the students in Food Safety Programs (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point – HACCP based) and Safe Quality Foods (SQF) Practitioner training.

These two certifications are required by industry in order to manage a food safety system in a food manufacturing facility. SQFI (Safe Quality Foods) is one of the approved Certification Bodies for the Global Food Safety Initiative and is used by the majority of the food facilities in the US.

The Global Food Safety Initiative is an industry-driven initiative providing leadership and guidance on food safety management system controls necessary to assure the safety of the food supply chain. Certification to a GFSI recognized scheme is achieved through a successful third party audit against any of the schemes listed as being recognized by GFSI. The third party companies that provide certification services are known as Certification Bodies (CBs). They are key stakeholders to GFSI and active participants.

This course will help prepare the Cornell students in food safety programs and auditing for when they begin working in the food industry.