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Training

The NOAA Seafood Inspection Program offers training for people involved in every aspect of seafood from harvesting, processing, and distribution to retail and food services. We offer regularly scheduled training on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). We also offer custom training options including system evaluation training for auditors, sensory analysis, sanitation, developing product specifications, and the popular "Seafood Splash" course for seafood professionals.

HACCP Training

Our expert staff has trained thousands of people in HACCP in the United States as well as in numerous foreign countries.

HACCP Training for Industry

Industry HACCP training meets the requirements set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for HACCP training, is designed to demystify the basic principles of HACCP by effectively incorporating lectures with hands-on workshop activities. Participants learn practical application of HACCP principles by identifying hazards, critical control points, and the attendant control criteria for a model producer. Participants will leave the workshop with:

• an understanding of each of the seven internationally recognized principles of HACCP
• an understanding of the new FDA seafood safety HACCP regulations as they apply to exporters to the United States
• an understanding of how to develop a HACCP plan
• tools to develop, implement, monitor and verify a HACCP plan in your own establishment

Course curriculum follows the recommendations of the U.S. Seafood Alliance for basic food safety and the NOAA Seafood Inspection Program for additional quality management controls. Attendance will meet the mandatory training requirements of 21 CFR Part 123 issued December 18, 1996.

HACCP training is available in 3 languages: English, Spanish, French

For additional information and to sign up for HACCP Training visit our HACCP Training page in English or Spanish.

HACCP Training for Retail and Foodservice Professionals

In the Retail HACCP Training Program, seafood retailers, which include supermarkets and restaurants, come face-to-face with customers that have become more educated about seafood. Let your customers know that the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDC) Seafood Inspection Program has approved your facility's sanitation and handling practices, and has confidence that your seafood products are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled.

The USDC Retail HACCP Program is available to retail chains as well as individual stores. We offer two programs, with their own special marks the Retail HACCP Program and the Basic Retail Program. Choose the one that suits your needs. Our Retail Programs are the ONLY Federal programs that have official marks for seafood that you can advertise in your store or restaurant.

For more information, contact our National Training Section or view our Retail & Foodservice HACCP Brochure (PDF Format)

For External Links to more information about HACCP click here

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Custom Training

For questions about custom training options, contact the NOAA Seafood Inspection Program National Training Section at (978) 281-9124.

Sensory Science - Your Nose Knows!

The importance of sound sensory evaluation of seafood products has been increasingly recognized in the past few years. These workshops will assist quality analysts in developing skills to properly assess quality in seafood products. Our sensory experts have developed a lexicon of terms and an effective way of training that will teach you to recognize and describe the quality of seafood, accurately and consistently.
The student is trained to become better at sensory testing through both hands-on experience and science-based instruction.
Hands-on

• Work with internationally calibrated sensory experts
• Experience a full range of product quality
• Learn the US government cut-off point for decomposition
• Know how to identify "premium quality"
• Be taught a complete, internationally recognized language for quality

Science-based Instruction

• Master the most effective smelling and tasting techniques
• Learn to be objective
• Know how to handle samples
• Learn to report results
• Understand how to get consistent sensory results

Available on a custom as requested basis. Please contact 978-281-9269 for more information.

Seafood Splash—Training for Supermarket and Restaurant Professionals

The Seafood Inspection Program offers this practical, three-day hands-on seafood training program for supermarket seafood managers, Chefs, department and foodservice personnel, seafood buyers and merchandisers. The Seafood Splash Course provides a first hand education on the dock, in processing plants and in the classroom. The course combines hands-on labs, lectures, professional skills-building exercises and industry tours in an intensive and comprehensive two and a half-day workshop. Course graduates learn to improve product handling methods and product safety, improve product quality and decrease shrink. "Seafood Splash" Brochure (PDF Format)

System Evaluation Training for Auditors

Originally designed for government entities, now also available to the private sector, our experts can provide training in the methods of quality auditing of food systems, a discipline widely used in the evaluation of HACCP and quality management systems of food production firms. Both formal classroom theory training with practical examples and field training to gather applied experience may be included. The method employed is a train-the-trainer approach with support services after the training is completed. In this way, you may train a force to be used in the development of your program.

U.S. Department of Commerce/NOAA Fisheries • 1315 East West Highway • Silver Spring, MD 20910 • Phone (301) 427-8300 • Toll Free (800) 422-2750

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