The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) has announced the launch of its eLearning certificate course Essentials of Produce Safety, an entirely online, affordable and in-depth program covering the key challenges and best practices in produce safety. The course is the first certificate program in PMA's new educational platform offering, FreshEd Academy. The course was developed in partnership with Intertek Alchemy, a produce safety eLearning solutions provider.

“FreshEd Academy is our commitment to delivering thought leadership to the produce and floral industries, while providing member partners with innovative, yet affordable, educational solutions,” says Gina Jones, vice president of Insights and Analytics at PMA. “Essentials of Produce Safety is the first of a number of courses and broader initiatives we are launching that pick up where today’s traditional training programs end.”

Taught by produce safety experts with real-life understanding of the challenges and risks, Essentials of Produce Safety is available to individual learners and employee groups alike, with all enrollees benefitting from:

• Enhanced produce safety proficiency
• Improved communication across the organization and supply chain
• Immediate application of learnings to the work environment

“It is critically important for produce safety supervisors and managers to have an opportunity to receive education on why they are doing what they do, and to gain insights into how to do it even better,” says course author, instructor and former PMA chief science & technology officer, Dr. Robert Whitaker. “Essentials of Produce Safety is designed to provide that educational experience; converting staid food safety training into an educational opportunity that cultivates industry-leading food safety professionals.”

Essentials of Produce Safety is delivered entirely online via a device responsive learning management system that enables learners to complete the course anywhere, on any device—desktop, tablet, or mobile. The course consists of seven learning modules, a review module, and a certificate exam.

Essentials of Produce Safety instructor Afreen Malik, director of technical services at International Food Safety adds “understanding the science-based fundamental principles of produce safety can help lead to a safer produce supply chain globally. Essentials of Produce Safety helps us to do just that.”