Roughly one in six Americans (48 million people) get sick from foodborne diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control. With support from NIFA's Food Safety Outreach Program, the University of Florida launched the Southern Center for Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance to Enhance Produce Safety. The Southern Center seeks to build a collaborative infrastructure in southern states to support produce safety training and education that is compliant with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Thirteen regional land-grant institutions participate in the Center. Their Food Safety and Preventative Controls Alliance (FSPCA) instructional training continues to grow. To date, 52 FSPCA instructors have trained 830 participants and 108 Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) trainers. The PSA trainers have trained 136 participants, including program evaluators.
Read more about the Southern Center.
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