The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is partnering with the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) to present two National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards Self-Assessment and Verification Audit Workshops in April and July 2019.
The April workshop will be held on April 23-25, 2019 in Denver, CO. Register for the Denver workshop.
The July workshop will be held in conjunction with the National Environmental Health Association’s 2019 Annual Educational Conference in Nashville, TN. This two-and-a-half-day course will be offered as a pre-conference workshop, Sunday – Tuesday, July 7-9, 2019. Register for the Nashville workshop.
Contact NEHA with any questions at [email protected].
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
The FDA National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Program Standards) apply to the operation and management of a retail food regulatory program that is focused on the reduction of risk factors known to contribute to foodborne illness and to the promotion of active managerial control of these risk factors. The Program Standards are designed to help food regulatory programs enhance the services they provide to the public. When applied in the intended manner, the Program Standards should:
- Assist in identifying program areas most in need of attention
- Provide information needed to justify maintenance or increase in program budgets
- Identify program areas where an agency can have the greatest impact on retail food safety within their community
- Promote wider application of effective risk factor intervention strategies
- Lead to innovations in program implementation and administration
- Improve industry and consumer confidence in food protection programs by enhancing uniformity within and between regulatory agencies
This workshop is designed to provide participants with an overview of the Program Standards criteria and an in-depth understanding of the self-assessment and verification audit process, worksheets, and forms.
WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
Participants will be able to:
- Identify the requirements for each of the nine Program Standards
- Explore various approaches to meeting the criteria within the Program Standards
- Use the worksheets and forms to electronically compile and maintain their jurisdiction’s self-assessment results
- Use the Program Standards worksheets and forms as a guide to complete a verification audit of a jurisdiction’s self-assessment against the criteria contained on the FDA National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Participants should be program managers or those directly responsible for conducting program self-assessments and preparing for verification audits. Interactive workshop exercises have been developed for each of the Program Standards and are designed to provide participants with hands on experience in preparation for conducting a self-assessment or a verification audit. Please note a maximum of 2 participants from each agency has been set as there are a limited number of seats available for the course unless more space is available.
WORKSHOP PRE-REQUISITES
Participants should have a good understanding of the criteria contained in each of the nine Program Standards. An orientation to the use of the Program Standards files and worksheets that are downloadable from the following FDA web link will be provided at the workshop.