1. education
2. alumni and reunions

Premises and Equipment
May 27, 2015 - Kentville
Deadline to register: May 20, 2015
September 9, 2015 - Truro
Deadline to register: September 2, 2015
These workshops will provide a solid foundation
of food safety principles for anyone new to a food
safety leadership role or needing a refresher into the
basic elements of a food safety program. It will be
especially helpful for small food processors that are
required to have a food safety plan in order to sell
to a retailer. The workshops will teach you how to
prepare and implement your food safety program in
an informative, practical atmosphere that is light on
lecture and long on learning creatively.
People, Product Handling
and Storage
June 3, 2015 - Kentville
Deadline to register: May 27, 2015
September 23, 2015 - Truro
Deadline to register: September 16, 2015
Sanitation and Pest Control
June 17, 2015 - Kentville
Deadline to register: June 10, 2015
Each course costs $25 + tax ($28.75)
For that fee, you will receive: expert instruction, time to
apply your learnings as they relate to your operation, a
course booklet, two breaks and a light lunch.
All sessions start at 9 AM and run to 4 PM.
Preferred registration is online at
www.perenniaregistrations.com or www.perennia.ca
Or register by calling Gail at 1-877-710-5210 (toll-free).
You must pre-register since seating is very limited. Each
session has 15 available spots offered on a first come
basis.
Kentville sessions held at Perennia offices at the Atlantic
Food and Horticulture Research Centre. Truro sessions
held at Perennia Innovation Centre.
Directions at www.perennia.ca
If you are interested in sessions in Yarmouth and Cape
Breton, please let us know or call Gail at at (902) 6787722 or 1-877-710-5210 (toll-free).
August 12, 2015 - Truro
Deadline to register: August 5, 2015
Product Traceability
and Recall
July 8, 2015 - Truro
Deadline to register: June 30, 2015
October 7, 2015 - Kentville
Deadline to register: September 30, 2015
Developing Your HACCP Plan
October 21, 2015 - Truro
Deadline to register: October 14, 2015
October 28, 2015 - Kentville
Deadline to register: October 21, 2015
Prevention is the best way to
avoid costly breakdowns and
foreign object contamination incidents. This workshop will focus on
the importance of documenting and
maintaining preventative maintenance schedules, completing premise and facility inspections and how to calibrate key equipment. Proper sanitary design and installation of equipment will be reviewed. This session will also
discuss the importance of water quality, contamination
sources, treatment and testing in food production. Topics
will include Canadian water standards and what to test for,
proper sample collection, when to test, how to interpret results and what to do if your results are unacceptable. Participants can bring in a facility schematic or an aerial view
of their facility, as well as any equipment photos, for discussion.
Recalls can happen to anyone in
any industry. Maintaining traceability starts when your primary
ingredients/product and packaging are received, and ends when
your product goes out the door. Each step
of this process must be tracked through your facility. An effective traceability program is the key to being prepared in
the event of a recall or product withdrawal. This workshop
will cover what to do in the event of a recall, the importance of testing your recall program, picking a recall team
and traceability best practices (rework, correct labeling).
Participants will have an opportunity in the afternoon to begin to develop their recall program, traceability procedures
and records with some guidance and troubleshooting from
our specialists. This course will enable the participants to
have a good start in completing their recall plan.
You may have produced a quality
product, and your premises and
facility may be cleaned and sanitized. However, without good hygiene and good manufacturing practices all your efforts may be for naught. This workshop will
discuss the importance of minimizing contamination with
good hygiene, personnel practices and traffic flow management. The importance of employee training and documentation to your food safety program will be discussed.
Allergens and proper handling, as well as the transport
and storage of your input and output materials, will be explored.
This session will start with a basic
overview of HACCP principles
and how prerequisite programs
play a part in controlling potential
hazards. Participants are encouraged to bring any existing HACCP plans,
facility diagrams and ingredient breakdowns, as well as be
familiar with the way packaging, ingredients and products
flow through their facility. In the latter part of the session,
participants will have the opportunity to take the information they learned in the morning and apply it to the development or improvement of their own HACCP plan with
guidance from our specialists. Participants will have a good
start in completing their HACCP plan after this session.
In order to successfully produce
good quality food you need to
start and stay clean. Sanitation
and pest control play significant
roles in minimizing contamination
and producing a safe, quality product. This workshop will
cover what cleaning and sanitizing your equipment effectively really means, and the importance of effective pest
control, preoperational inspections and controlling chemicals to prevent contamination. Participants will have an
opportunity to begin to build their employee hygiene, sanitation and pest control policies and records.
You can take as many sessions as you wish;
none are pre-requisites. However, taking the
series will give you the best opportunity for
a well-rounded understanding of food safety,
HACCP, best practices and your role!
Course locations
32 Main Street, Kentville
and
173 Bernie Macdonald Drive, Bible Hill
register early at www.perenniaregistrations.com or
by calling Gail at 1-877-710-5210