The design of a qualification training guide for United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service

Abstract

The tragic event of September 11th has changed the political environment of the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS); consumers want regulatory agencies to increase their roles in food safety system. The September 11th event has created the importance of maintaining and improving the food safety system and the ability of the regulatory agencies to adapt to threats as they emerge. Although, the U.S. food safety system is one of the safest in the world, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths are caused by foodborne pathogens annually (GAO Weakness, 2002). Without training, our frontline inspectors will not meet the challenges to deal with the possible threats to our nation’s food supply and our public could suffer more illness and perhaps even death. The purpose of this study was to revised the current Fundamentals of Poultry Slaughter and Inspection training module into a Qualification Training Guide (QTG) designed as a distance or self-directed learning course. This training manual will help inspectors meet the possible foodborne threats to our nation’s food supply. Voluntary subject matter experts (SME) will be asked to review the training guides to determine the feasibility and usefulness and then complete an evaluation survey. The SME will not have any prior experience in using the new QTG before participating in this study. Feedback obtained from the completion of the survey will be used to improve, modify, and update the Qualification Training Guide applicability.