The United Fresh Foundation, through the Center for Food Safety & Quality, has announced the 2011 dates for its popular Produce Inspection Training Program. These hands-on training sessions, executed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA-AMS), are designed to help produce industry members better understand the produce inspection process.

"Since United Fresh and USDA-AMS developed this program in 2002, we’ve trained over 700 industry professionals," said Victoria Backer, United Fresh senior vice president, member services, foundation. "It’s clear this program is a valuable training tool for the industry, providing a comprehensive review of key USDA inspection procedures and standards."

"We are pleased to continue our partnership with United Fresh to offer this training in 2011," said Robert Keeney, Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, USDA-AMS. "This unique course has been designed to provide practical information and lessons that the private sector can apply directly to their businesses today."

          Three Produce Inspection Training Programs will be offered in 2011 at the USDA Fresh Products Branch National Inspectors’ Training and Development Center in Fredericksburg, Va.: January 10-14, May 16-20, and September 12-16.

The program is offered in two specialized courses: Fundamentals of Produce Inspection and Commodity Labs. Upon completion of both courses, attendees receive a certificate of recognition from United Fresh and the USDA.

The first of the two courses, Fundamentals of Produce Inspection, is a prerequisite of the Commodity Labs course and focuses on topics such as inspection essentials, PACA, sampling procedures, and general market principles. The three-day Commodity Labs course takes place in the lab and applies the principals learned in the fundamentals course to real product inspections. Each Commodity Labs course will include the five most commonly requested commodities: grapes, lettuces, potatoes, strawberries and tomatoes, and will be customized with additional commodities based on the attendees’ most common preferences (up to 12 in total).

The following course options are available in the coming year:

January 10-11, 2011                       Fundamentals of Inspection

January 12-14, 2011                       Commodity Labs

January 10-14, 2011                       Both Courses

May 16-17, 2011                              Fundamentals of Inspection

May 18-20, 2011                              Commodity Labs

May 16-20, 2011                              Both Courses

September 12-13, 2011                 Fundamentals of Inspection

September 14-16, 2011                 Commodity Labs

September 12-16, 2011                Both Courses

          Class size is limited and attendees are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. The registration fee for United Fresh members interested in the introductory course is $895, while the advanced course is $1225. If both courses are taken together, members may register at the discounted rate of $1925. If three or more colleagues from the same member company register for both courses, each will receive a $100 discount on the registration rate. For non-members, the prices are $1095, $1425 and $2325, respectively. Seminar registration fees include training seminars and all course materials.

          Attendees may register for the training seminars on the United Fresh website at www.unitedfresh.org or by contacting Julie Jacocks, education manager, at 202-303-3400 ext. 405 or jjacocks@unitedfresh.org.