The Renewable Fuels Association is offering an important training program this month in Des Moines to help ethanol producers who also market the co-product distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) comply with animal food regulations.
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) training program on Preventive Controls for Animal Food compliance is tailored specifically for the ethanol industry. This critically important 20-hour course will be held August 27-29 in Des Moines, Iowa.
“RFA has been at the forefront of preparing the ethanol industry to comply with FDA’s FSMA rules, having successfully trained over 200 employees from 74 companies across 22 U.S. states and Canada from 2016-2018,” said RFA EH&S Director Justin Schultz, the lead instructor for the program. “We aim to continue that legacy and encourage plants to deepen their benches by educating new and seasoned employees alike.”
RFA based the course on standardized curriculum developed by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance in collaboration with the FDA. Participants who successfully complete the training program will receive FSPCA Certificates of Completion and will be recognized by FDA as meeting the requirements for a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual. This is critically important, as ethanol plants subject to the PCAF rule are required to have a PCQI develop and implement the facility’s food safety plan.
The 20 hour course will begin Tuesday, August 27 at 1:00 pm and go through Thursday, August 29 at 5:00 pm
and will be held at the Iowa Corn Growers Association office in Johnston. The cost is free for RFA Members; $1,000 for Non-Members.