In preparation for a very busy season, this two-part series seeks to provide packing house owners, supervisors and managers an opportunity to review critical food safety practices. Whether you are preparing for your food safety audit, a regulatory inspection or just want to get a refresher on food safety practices, this workshop is for you. 

Bring your food safety plan and your questions!

Part 1: Overview of food safety practices (April 21, 2026)

The discussion during part 1 will focus on identifying food safety risks and hazards, routes of contamination and then address what activities, practices, resources and employee training programs need to be strengthened.

Topics to be discussed

1. The importance of food safety practices and of those in supervisory roles.
2. Identifying contamination routes in packing houses.
3. Importance of personal hygiene and adequate facilities.
4. Elements of a cleaning and sanitation program in a packing house.

The goal of this workshop is that you can review areas of concern and prioritize food safety efforts and resources before the season begins.

We will use the curriculum "Keeping Apples Safe in the Packing house" developed by Dr. Luke Laborde at Penn State University which consists of videos filmed in apple packing houses in the US to illustrate food safety practices and discuss solutions to different issues.

Part 2: Cleaning and sanitation workshop & implementation of a front line worker training program for packing houses (April 30, 2026)

During the morning portion of this workshop, we will focus on the implementation of cleaning and sanitation programs at packing houses. This will include a hands-on component where you will have the opportunity to identify and troubleshoot problems in packing lines and food contact surfaces, use equipment that can greatly impact the efficiency and effectiveness of daily operations and improve training for your cleaning crews.

After lunch, we will switch gears and go over the "front line worker training" curriculum, a food safety training program developed in English and Spanish to train workers regarding food safety risks. The resources in this training program will be made available to you to use with your workers.

The goal of this workshop is that we discuss practical aspects of cleaning and sanitation and strengthen the food safety training program for your employees.

Pre- registration is required. Refunds will be issued up to 2 days before the event. 

A certificate will be provided to all attendees after the workshop.

For additional information

If you have any questions regarding this workshop please contact Elena Rogers, Area Specialized Agent - Food Safety/Fresh Produce at (828)352-2519 or Karen Blaedow for the Henderson Co. Office at (828)697-4891.