With travel bans due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, on-site audits have been disrupted, and the United Fresh Produce Association has a web seminar to answer importers’ questions.
The Food and Drug Administration has switched to remote inspections, but companies have questions on alternate methods of demonstrating regulatory compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Foreign Suppler Verification Program. The program verifies that produce being exported to the U.S. meets the same food safety standards of produce grown and shipped in the U.S.
The 45-minute free seminar, “Alternate Means of Food Safety Verification During a Pandemic, is at 2 p.m. Eastern May 7. Registration is available online.
Participants can ask questions and “brainstorms ways to communicate and ascertain safe production and handling practices,” according to a news release.
Speakers scheduled for the Zoom seminar are:
- Jennifer McEntire, vice president of food safety and technology for United Fresh;
- Sharan Lanini, director of food safety for Pacific International Marketing;
- Rebecca Anderson, technical key account manager, GlobalG.A.P. North America;
- Felice Arboisiere, director of food safety and quality assurance-North America for Dole Fresh Vegetables; and
- Steve Strub, manager of produce food safety for Wegmans Food Markets.
For questions, contact Katie McGowan, United Fresh food safety program coordinator, a kmcgowan@unitedfresh.org or 202-303-3402.
The seminar is sponsored by Ecolab.
For more of The Packer’s pandemic coverage, see the COVID-19 webpage.
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