business

Hygiene courses offered

In the country’s efforts to standardize food hygiene procedures in the manufacture of products for export, the Ministerio de Salud (Minsa) has been conducting audits and certifications of processing plants in accordance with the internationally used Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System for the prevention of food-borne diseases.

Some of those food processing plants, however, are claiming that Minsa officials have fallen behind on approving those certifications, forcing the companies to train staff in the Hazard system for in-house inspections.

Juan Carlos Carrera, manager of the training company Carver, said his company will be offering courses certified by the International HACCP Alliance in October.

The Hazard system, created in 1994 to ensure the safety of packaged meat, are now applied to the entire food production chain, from harvesting, to packing and handling of food within restaurants.

Minsa sends an official at least once a year to monitor the health conditions of the various establishments to verify that Hazard system criteria are being met.

“If the company already has Hazard plans and certification, everything moves along more quickly and they avoid fines,” said Carrera.

Courses will be held from Oct. 20 to 25 at a cost of $500, he added, but Carver is negotiating with the government to obtain financial assistance to make the Hazard training more accessible to the public.