Tools for Improving Food Safety Focus of Upcoming CDB Workshop in Guyana

The third ServSafe Food Safety Training and Certification Workshop facilitated by the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) Technical Cooperation Division, through its programme, the Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services Network, is slated to take place from September 15-18, 2015 in Guyana.

Over 30 health inspectors, food service managers and handlers will benefit from the three-day training. The ServSafe Food Safety Training and Certification Workshop will equip participants with fundamental tools for improving food safety, with sessions on basic food safety, cross contamination and allergies, time and temperature control and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system.

ServSafe is a United States of America-based certification based on the latest US Food and Drug Administration Food Code, and is accredited by the American National Standards Institute-Conference for Food Protection.

Edward Greene, Division Chief, Technical Cooperation Division, CDB notes, “To date, over 55 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises involved in the food service industries in Antigua and Barbuda, and Montserrat have benefitted from the training. Through technical assistance interventions such as this, CDB’s goal is to provide entrepreneurs with the skills needed to assist them in improving their livelihoods, while enabling them to contribute to the strengthening of their local economies through innovation and the creation of new business opportunities.”

The workshop at the Herdmanston Lodge, Georgetown, Guyana is in collaboration with the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Health’s Food and Drug Department. It will be led by Julie-Ann Laudat of JAL Training and Consultancy Services and Lionel Michael, Chief Health Inspector of the Ministry of Health in Antigua and Barbuda.

At the end of the workshop, the ServSafe Food Protection Manager Examination will be administered to participants, and test scripts will be submitted to the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation in the USA for grading. Successful participants will receive the Food Protection Manager Certificate, which is valid for a period of five years. In addition, upon completion of the workshop, participants will develop action plans with the aid of the Certified ServSafe Instructors, to upgrade the food safety practices at their establishments, which will be implemented with the assistance of the Ministry of Health.

This workshop was successfully piloted in Antigua and Barbuda in December 2014, with the second held in Montserrat in April 2015.