UOG Extension co-hosts food safety training for Micronesia
UOG Extension co-hosts food safety training for Micronesia
UOG Extension co-hosts food safety training for Micronesia
12/22/2022
Training on the latest national food safety requirements made its way to the islands of Micronesia this week via a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture鈥揻unded program hosted by the 91快播 and the University of Idaho.
The four-day training brought 14 public health agents, food safety educators, and land-grant extension agents to Guam from Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the islands of Yap, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia to learn about food safety practices to prevent foodborne illnesses.
Foodborne diseases are a significant public health issue across the Western Pacific, according to the World Health Organization, yet few food safety professionals in the region have had access to appropriate resources, including training on the national Food Safety Modernization Act.
Extension food-safety specialist Jang Ho Kim of the University of Idaho, who previously worked with Cooperative Research, Extension, and Education Services at Northern Marianas College in Saipan, is the director of the grant program, titled 鈥�
The participants said there is a general lack of awareness about the importance of food safety on their islands. One shared how high electricity costs prompt residents of Kosrae to turn off their refrigerators overnight, increasing the risk of food contamination.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited to bring back the training materials and try to tailor fit it to what we practice back home, especially in the hospital because that鈥檚 where we serve the most vulnerable people,鈥� said Steward Molens, a nutritionist at Pohnpei State Hospital.
Joining Kim in delivering the training were UOG food scientist Jian Yang; director of the Food Technology Center at the University of Idaho Joshua Bevan; and Douglas Marshall, chief scientific officer for Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories Inc. out of Colorado.
They provided an overview of the FSMA and conducted sessions on farm worker health and hygiene, produce safety, best manufacturing practices, developing food product ideas, and the pandemic鈥檚 effect on food safety.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e the future of the food system in Guam and Micronesia,鈥� Peter Barcinas, interim associate director of UOG鈥檚 extension service, told the participants. 鈥淚 hope that as you look at your food system and the credentialing of the people that support your institutional markets, you鈥檒l think of us and future training that鈥檚 ahead and take advantage of any capacity building like this and look to your partners for support.鈥�