Companies Turn to PCQI Trained Professionals to Lead Food Safety Efforts

Posted by Zosi Team

America benefits from one of the safest food sources in the world. But what does it take to keep it that way? At the end of the day, it all comes down to people, especially the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI).

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) created PCQI’s to establish a role that carries out specific, crucial food safety responsibilities like developing, implementing and reassessing a food safety plan.

For companies that don’t have a designated PCQI, it’s not as simple as appointing someone. It is possible for an employee to achieve PCQI status as a result of adequate job experience. But relying on this person’s tenure alone can create risks for you and your customers.

About 48 million people in the U.S. (1 in 6) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from foodborne diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a significant public health burden that is largely preventable.

Only formal risk-based PCQI training based on the FDA recognized standardized curriculum can effectively and properly equip individuals to understand the latest regulations and Food Safety Plan requirements.

Zosi Learning offers a Preventive Controls for Human Food blended eLearning course that provides everything needed for someone to meet FSMA requirements and become a PCQI.

Our course combines the benefits of a self-paced eLearning environment with a live virtual instructor-led session for a comprehensive and complete understanding of the new FSMA requirements. Thousands of food safety professionals who have taken this online course and received their certificate of completion are developing and implementing food safety plans at their facilities.

Individuals who take this course will:   

• Grasp and monitor federal regulations – Zosi’s PCQI training courses break down federal regulations so that you not only ascertain how to comply with each standard but walk away with an appreciation for the value of PCQI responsibilities.

• Master hazard analysis and preventive control measures – PCQI training builds on food manufacturing professionals’ fundamental knowledge of food safety hazards and discusses the underlying principles of crafting a food safety preventive controls system. With this course, future PCQIs will better understand how a systematic approach helps ensure food safety. Students will learn about motivations behind food hazards and the process of hazard analysis. And they will explore how to apply preventive control principles.

• Develop an effective food safety plan – With new learnings in place, PCQI training takes a hands-on approach and walks participants step by step through building a Food Safety Plan, including identifying tools and implementation tasks. Students will walk away with manuals, workbooks, templates, and more to help perfect their Food Safety Plan. We also discuss when to perform reanalysis to help ensure a sustainable food safety system.

• Understand the importance of recordkeeping procedures – The importance of establishing and carrying out proper recordkeeping procedures in a timely, complete, and true fashion cannot be overstated. PCQI training lays the groundwork for this practice, demonstrating the proper record keeping and record review systems relevant to your operation’s Food Safety Plan.

• Receive direct guidance from an FSPCA lead instructor – Leverage the expertise of Intertek Alchemy’s Consulting team with instruction and guidance from two of our FSPCA lead instructors. These instructors have decades of experience and robust training.

Take a closer look at PCQI training with Zosi’s blended eLearning resource. Our course combines the benefits of a self-paced eLearning environment with a live virtual instructor-led session to ensure you walk away with a comprehensive and complete understanding of the new FSMA requirements.

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