Educating and training focused on food safety within the dairy processing industry may seem like a mammoth undertaking. However, industry-created modules and resources are there to lighten the load.

With a myriad of subjects and intricacies to emphasize – and worry about – within a facility, a company can’t afford for any of its employees to take such matters lightly. In fact, concepts tied to dairy food safety are so wide-ranging that even an intensive crash course over a few days couldn’t be effective enough to cover everything that needs to be considered within a processor’s operations.

Consequently, there’s even an extensive variety of topics and sub-topics with which dairy processors are seeking guidance and help these days, said International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) senior vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs Roberta Wagner.

Among the trending matters in the industry, Wagner noted, are good manufacturing processes (GMPs), risk assessment and hazard analysis, hygienic design, and environmental monitoring programs that address bacteria such as cronobacter, salmonella and listeria. And that’s just the start of it.

Wagner said many companies also want further education on FSMA, supplier management programs, recall plans, root cause analysis, pasteurizers, regulatory requirements, and sanitation and disinfection of dry and/or wet equipment and surfaces.

Of course, training and education needs differ significantly from company to company, as well, Innovation Center for US Dairy senior vice president of product research and food safety Tim Stubbs pointed out. What any given dairy processor or individual is looking for, Stubbs explained, depends on a company’s size and/or a specific person’s role within a company.


Training approaches

At one of the country’s largest dairy companies, every single person in the organization – even administrators or members of a financial department with office jobs outside of the facility – may be required to go through a food safety module.

Stubbs said at the highest level of the industry, a company could send employees through 10 modules over the course of a few years. An artisan dairy product operation, on the other hand, would not have the same needs or means as a corporation, given the chasm-sized differences in the size of operations and number of employees involved.

Said Chad Galer, vice president of product research and food safety for Dairy Management Inc. (DMI): “They all need something different.” 

Training sessions can be delivered via in-person lectures, hands-on training, video tutorials or other formats, all depending on what’s appropriate for the task at hand.

Wagner said dairy processors increasingly are leveraging digital tools and technology to train their workforce on food safety protocols. She said a shift toward virtual training began with the COVID-19 pandemic, as companies found that computer-based training also provided far more flexibility.

“Additionally, many processors are using enhanced classroom training with 3-D goggle technology, creating simulations that replicate plant environments and equipment, helping employees practice cleaning procedures and equipment handling in a realistic yet safe setting,” Wagner shared.

Additional handy tools being implemented by companies, she added, are described as “just-in-time” training modules. Employees may access those digitally at any time from any place. Some such video resources are hosted on YouTube.

Plus, traditional on-the-job training remains essential, Wagner emphasized, with newer employees shadowing more experienced personnel in a facility to learn the crucial food safety practices that are carried out on a daily basis.

Along those lines, Galer said companies and their leaders often want to know how they can train better.

“It’s still evolving,” he said. “It probably will be a continuous improvement path we’re working on.”

Some companies turn to the Innovation Center for US Dairy as their primary training source, sending 20 to 30 employees per year through the center’s workshops, Galer said. Others may send team members to learn about food safety at a university’s dairy center. Meanwhile, what works best for other organizations is sending one or two people with food safety responsibilities to receive training and bring what they’ve learned back to the employees at a facility.

Stubbs said oftentimes essential training happens between a supervisor and employees in a plant’s break room or some other designated area, where a group of workers can all gather at once to learn. In those settings, Stubbs related, employees may hear about OSHA topics, food safety culture or something ultra-specific to their facility – such as why loading docks must be closed because of air flow and the facility having a sanitation zone three layers down the hallway.

Said Wagner: “This combination of virtual, interactive and practical training has become essential for maintaining high food safety standards across the dairy industry.”

For the artisan dairy producers who may lack the resources of international brands, the Innovation Center for US Dairy wanted to be sure to create helpful resources so industry professionals could essentially train themselves if needed, Stubbs said.

Chief among those is its pathogen guidance document, which dives into great detail about every level of best practices and the principles that keep a dairy processing facility’s products safe.

Additionally, food safety experts within the dairy industry seek out ways to gather artisans together in groups for training and visit smaller operations to coach people in person when it’s possible.

“For the small (companies), the number one thing they need help with is laying out their plan,” Stubbs shared. “What is their food safety plan? What are elements of a food safety plan? How do I write it?”

As an example of how the industry tries to help the startups of the world find answers, Stubbs referenced safeicecream.org – a collaborative online resource hub created by IDFA, the Innovation Center for US Dairy and the North American Ice Cream Association. The site offers food safety plan templates, resources, online training, Spanish language resources and more.

pathogen control equation Innovation Center for US DairyGraphic: Innovation Center for US Dairy


From the experts

Among the food safety specialists who are providing the education and training, Wagner said many consider “hands-on, interactive” formats that incorporate real examples of addressing problems as the most effective approach.

“Tailoring the content to align with an employee’s specific role and responsibilities enhances relevance and engagement, while behavior-based learning ensures that knowledge is not only understood, but practically applied in daily operations,” Wagner said.

Including training scenarios that allow participants to actively apply what they’ve learned has proven critical to reinforce key concepts, she advised.

“Importantly, we focus on the ‘why’ behind food safety – emphasizing why each person’s role is essential to producing safe food every day,” said Wagner, whose career experience includes more than 25 years with the US Food and Drug Administration. “This often includes showing impactful videos of individuals affected by foodborne illness, which brings a personal perspective to the training and underscores the importance of strict food safety practices.”

Stubbs also endorsed “making it real” whenever possible during food safety training. For in-person food safety training with the Innovation Center for US Dairy, he said over the course of two days employees get a mixture of lectures and hands-on training.

“And then we give them the map of a plant and say, ‘OK, you’ve got five listeria swabs. Where are you doing that?’”

Next comes far more difficult scenarios.

“You’ve got a positive (bacteria found from a swab) – what do you do? You’ve got a chance to change some equipment in the room – what do you do? Hey, by the way, the FDA just called you – how do you react? Oh, now you’ve just found out there’s a death.

“Now we’ve got them worked up and hyper and stressed out a little bit,” Stubbs said of the training approach. “I think that’s really super-effective, because it lets them get in and understand it.”


Trending training

Lately, many companies are requiring certain members of their workforce to earn certification as a preventive controls qualified individual (PCQI), Stubbs noted.

“Part of the reason the PCQI is a big deal is you need to have two qualified individuals, and most companies want two qualified individuals on staff at every plant at all times,” Stubbs shared. “So that’s a lot of bodies, and that’s somebody who knows all the basics of a food safety plan.”

The Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) offers training. The organization’s course is the standardized curriculum recognized by the FDA, and completing the training is one way to achieve PCQI status.

FSPCA said its Preventive Controls for Human Food course was developed for employees who are responsible for performing or overseeing the preparation of a company’s food safety plan.

The course involves a minimum of 20 contact hours and is available in an instructor-led (in person or virtual) format, a self-paced online format and a two-part blended format that combines the two.