The International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) announced Monday that it now offers food industry professionals more than 50 food safety courses that were designed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Regulatory Affairs University (ORAU). Course topics include food labeling, emergency preparedness and response, the FDA Food Code, HACCP, foodborne illness investigations, food microbiological control, and many others.

These fifty-plus courses on food protection represent the entry-level training foundation for federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial regulatory officials, according to an IFPTI news release. Making this training available to food industry professionals provides an opportunity to increase the amount of shared knowledge across the entire food protection spectrum, IFPTI officials said, thus facilitating the creation of an integrated food safety system in the U.S. and beyond.

“Private sector food safety professionals having access to training required of government inspectors is an important step toward an integrated food safety system in the U.S. and abroad,” said Gerald Wojtala, IFPTI executive director. “Shared training gets all food protection professionals closer to the goal of achieving a safe food supply and improved public health.”

The ORAU courses are available by IFPTI through an agreement with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) at www.ifpti.org/courses.