Micro-certificate program: Food Safety Management

What is the Micro-certificate in Food Safety Management?

This online program includes flexible micro-courses that will elevate your knowledge and skills as a member of a quality assurance team in the food production industry. Each course requires a commitment of approximately 12 hours a week (a combination of online learning and synchronous meetings), and runs for 4-6 weeks.

Courses involve online readings, video lectures, and problem sets. As needed, synchronized meetings may be arranged so that learners may have a chance to ask questions and hear from industry experts. Specifically, the Internal Auditor Training course requires students to perform an internal audit at a food production location to gain important hands-on experience.

Students who successfully complete all three UBC courses and one BCIT course will earn a non-credit Micro-certificate in Food Safety Management issued by both UBC and BCIT.

This program qualifies for the StrongerBC future skills grant. This grant is open for British Columbians aged 19+, and covers up to $3,500 of training at public post-secondary institutions. Read more about the overall program on the StrongerBC site.

Apply for the Stronger BC future skills grant here.

What qualifications are needed to take these micro-courses?

  • Degree, diploma, or certification in science or food science
  • OR At least two years of experience in food industry or services

Why should I enroll?

Are you interested in making food and beverages safe for consumers? Do you want an exciting career in the food industry in B.C.?

Across B.C., there are 2500 companies making value-added protein, dairy, fruit and vegetable products; condiments; baked goods; and beverages such as wine, beer, and soft drinks. There is a growing need for well-trained food safety professionals who work in-house, as consultants or external auditors.

The Food Safety Management micro-courses provide you with professional skills and knowledge to enhance your career. You will gain important competencies needed to assist food manufacturing, food distributors and food service outlets with their comprehensive food safety and quality programs.

food safety management

Possible careers in food safety management:

  • Government Health Inspection Officer
  • Quality Assurance and Quality Control Technician
  • Continuous Improvement Manager
  • Consultant
  • Food Safety Specialist
  • Internal Auditor in a food processing facility

Current Course Offerings

Students need to complete three UBC courses and one BCIT course to obtain a program certificate:

  • UBC Courses: Fundamentals of Food Science for Professionals (FoodCert010), Food Safety Management Principles, Laws and Regulations (FoodCer020), Designing and Implementing a Traceability Program (FoodCert030)
  • BCIT course: BCIT Internal Auditor Training course (FOOD2170)

If you have any questions about the Food Safety Management Micro-certificate Program, you can email: farah.fathordoobady@ubc.ca.

For those who are new to the food industry or who want to upgrade their knowledge on safe food production, this is a foundational course. Students will learn the principles of food science and how the Canadian food system works. Topics include food processing and production principles and technologies commonly employed in the Canadian food industry to produce safe and high-quality products. In addition, students will gain an understanding of food chemistry, microbiology and toxicology, and learn how these impact the safe production and storage of food. No prerequisites required.

Course begins in Sept. 2023. Register at the link below.

Students learn the rules governing safety standards in food production in Canada and B.C., including HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Program), Safe Food for Canadian Regulations (SFCR), and the role of Health Canada’s Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Also students will learn about the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Using a case study approach, students develop a food safety plan that meets the needs of the food processor as it grows from a small entrepreneur using a shared kitchen to a large company with national distribution. Other topics include manufacturing principles to ensure allergen control, supplier management, and optimal cleaning and sanitation in food production. No prerequisites required; this course is required for BCIT course: Internal Auditor Training.

Course begins in Oct. 2023. Register at the link below.

Learn how to design, develop and implement traceability procedures from ingredient, packaging materials and processing aids receiving to finished product distribution. Learn how to validate your traceability procedures.

Course begins in Nov. 2023. Register at the link below.

This course will prepare food plant personnel to perform internal audits to determine if the food manufacturer's food safety and quality program is being implemented such that it effectively meets required standards. The student will learn how to prepare the audit, collect audit evidence, evaluate the audit evidence to determine conformance, write the final audit report and prepare Corrective Action Requests for the management team. Prerequisite for this course: Food Safety Management Principles, Laws and Regulations.

Course details: www.bcit.ca/courses/internal-auditor-training-food-2170/

Register at the link below.

Lila, Spring 2022 Cohort

I felt a bit challenged because of my computer skills but the teacher was excellent. He helped me as much as he could and spent time with me on a zoom call. The learning materials were very well laid out and easy to follow. With not ever taking an online course before it took me a bit to figure out my way around but I believe for the people that are more experienced with the on-line courses would have found it very well laid out. I really enjoyed the weekly zoom meetings and getting to know the other students in the class. I feel my overall experience was really good. The teacher made himself available to everyone and was easy to get along with and very well informed.

Carina, Spring 2023 Cohort

The course design is very rigorous, and you can have a very good systematic study of food basic science, food safety management and food laws and regulations in a short period of time. At the same time, I was very glad to have the opportunity to meet several excellent teachers during the study. They are professional, enthusiastic, dedicated, and pay attention to the learning needs of each student. It was a challenging and fun learning experience.

Listen to our Information Session held Aug. 24, 2023

 


Instructors

Anubhav Pratap-Singh food safety management

Dr. Anubhav Pratap-Singh holds the Endowed Professor in Food & Beverage Innovation, and chairs the Food Hub Network Academic Coordination Committee. Dr. Pratap-Singh is the Academic Director for this Micro-certificate Program. Dr. Pratap-Singh’s research group in the Food Nutrition and Health Program of the Faculty of Land & Food Systems explores novel technologies for preservation and quality extension of food products. Dr. Pratap-Singh serves on the Executive Board of the British Columbia Food Technologists’ Association (BCFT), and on the Section Advisory Council of the Canadian Institute of Food Science & Technology (CIFST) Association. Dr. Pratap-Singh also represents the Faculty of Land & Food Systems at the UBC Vancouver Senate and serves on the UBC Academic Policy Committee and the UBC Research & Scholarship Committee.

Farahnaz Fathordoobady food safety management

Dr. Farahnaz Fathordoobady is a Research assistant/ Instructor in Food, Nutrition & Health program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia. She is the program manager of this Micro-certificate program. Dr. Fathordoobady is supervising the Food Process Engineering Pilot Plant and is experienced in developing advanced processing techniques (thermal/non-thermal) to control the activity of pathogenic microorganism for food-safe production. She is the Lab instructor of “Advances in Food Process Science” (FOOD 524) for “Master of Food Science” program at UBC. Dr. Fathordoobady has also been working on developing innovated plant-based food additive formulations such as encapsulated natural food colorant with potential antioxidant activity, stable nano-emulsion systems and packaging films containing fruit puree, to enhance the product shelf-life and preserve the quality of food and beverage products. She is also a member of Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) of Nanomedicines Innovation Network (NMIN).

Nancy Ross

Nancy Ross, BSc (Food Science), MAgr., University of Guelph. Nancy has enjoyed a variety of experiences in her career as a food scientist, working for the past 25 years in Vancouver as an independent food consultant. She has worked with a wide range of companies and assisted the owners of many micro- and small-scale food processors. Nancy also helped design the Commissary Connect Laurel Street facility – BC’s first regional full scale food innovation and processing hub. Nancy was a director for the Small-Scale Food Processors Association (SSFPA) for many years and now serves as chair of the Agrarians Foundation. Nancy is a faculty member at UBC in the role of sessional instructor for two courses. FNH 403 Food Law, Regulations and Quality Assurance is a prerequisite course for Food Science graduates that provides basic HACCP food safety training. A second course that is part of the MFS curriculum (FOOD 512, HACCP and Food Safety Management) provides a more in-depth analysis of food safety principles and techniques. Her extensive background and varied experiences provide her students with a variety of real-world experiences and much food for thought.

Alberto Mendoza-Galina, BSc Biochemistry Engineering. He is specialized in food sciences and technology, he is also a GFSI consultant/auditor, HACCP certified by the UN/FAO and the USDC/NMFS, his work has taken him to countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, USA, and Canada, working in different production environments from aquaculture, farming/harvesting, processing, and distribution, to retail and food service establishments; in diverse industries, including, dairy, meat, poultry, seafood, beverage, canning, preserved foods, produce, confectionary, natural products, nutritional supplements, and entrée ready-to-eat products. His area of expertise lies in designing food safety and food quality management systems informed through hazard analysis and risk assessment. He works as an auditor for Merieux NutriSciences in Chicago, USA. At UBC he teaches the following courses, FNH 414 Sustainability and the Food Industry, AQUA 507 Seafood Processing, FOOD 516 Advanced Food Safety and Food Quality Management, and FOOD 527A Special Topics in Food Sciences. He is the science advisor and co-founder of two projects, aquaponics and Oreocromis aureus (tilapia) aquaculture, and Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) aquaculture in closed systems.

Rebecca Robertson

Rebecca Robertson, BSc (Microbiology), MSc (Food Science). Rebecca has extensive industry experience having provided technical consulting to the food and natural health product industry over the last 25 years. She is a Food Technology instructor and Research Associate for the Natural Health Products and Food Research Group at BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology). In 2020, she completed a master’s degree at the University of British Columbia during which her research focused on the use of continuous improvement tools to improve food safety and quality programs in the food manufacturing sector. Her projects combine science and business as this is the key to offering practical, economical solutions that work in a business context. This practical approach is embedded into all the food safety courses that Rebecca teaches including food technology courses, food safety courses for industry, and a new course for UBC, Food Safety and Quality Management.

Partners

These micro-courses are co-delivered by two institutions with a strong history of training food production and safety professionals: UBC and the BC Institute of Technology. In addition, UBC and BCIT are partnering with the B.C. food industry to provide an opportunity for students to conduct onsite audit testing.

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