Conference for Food Protection

The CFP Certification of Food Safety Regulation Professionals (CFSRP) Work Group has identified specific initiatives pertaining to the training and professional development of regulatory retail food safety inspection officers that require continued Conference deliberation. A 2012-2014 CFP Certification of Food Safety Regulations Professional (CFSRP) Work Group should be created by the Conference to continue the work on these initiatives.

A national model that addresses training and the professional development of regulatory retail food safety professionals is essential to enhancing the effectiveness of the nation's retail food protection system. The model training plan and log, field training worksheets, and joint field training process presented in the CFP Field Training Manual for Regulatory Retail Food Safety Inspection Officers (Field Training Manual), approved at the 2008 Biennial Meeting are only a part of a professional development continuum that is needed to ensure regulatory retail food safety professionals have the knowledge and skills to effectively conduct inspections of retail food stores, restaurants, and/or institutional foodservice facility types.

The Standard 2 training and standardization model should be viewed as a working document that will need to be updated and revised to meet the ever-changing retail food safety environment. The Conference for Food Protection provides the mechanism to:

• Maintain and update this national training model;
• Explore additional training and/or assessment needs for regulatory retail food programs; and
• Build consensus among all retail food safety stakeholders.

that a re-created 2012-2014 Certification of Food Safety Regulation Professionals (CFSRP) Work Group be charged with the following:

Charge 1: Collaborate with the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the FDA Division of Human Resource Development, and the Partnership for Food Protection Training and Certification Workgroup (PFP TCWG) to:

• Continue review of all initiatives: existing, new or under development; involving the training, evaluation and/or certification of food safety inspection officers. This collaborative working relationship will ensure the sharing of information so as not to create any unnecessary redundancies in the creation of work product or assignment of tasks/responsibilities.
• When completed, use the Retail Food Safety Specialist Job Task Analysis being developed under the umbrella of the PFP TCWG to review and revise the Standard 2 curriculum to identify any gaps and recommendations for change and review the time frame for completion of Steps 1 through 4 for new hires or staff newly assigned to the regulatory retail food protection program.
• Determine if the CFP Field Training Manual and forms need to be revised based on the findings of the PFP TCWG and the Retail Food Safety Specialist Job Task Analysis.

Charge 2: Collaborate with FDA, other federal agencies, and professional and industry associations to evaluate the results of the Retail Food Safety Specialist Job Task Analysis being developed under the umbrella of the PFP TCWG to:

• Assess and determine appropriate training and standardization processes/protocols for third party auditors.
• Identify any agencies/organizations/working groups currently addressing education and training standards for third party auditors conducting retail food compliance inspections.
• Provide a recommendation to the Conference as to what actions/initiatives, if any, need to be undertaken to provide a national structure for ensuring that third party auditors possess the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to conduct retail food program compliance inspections.

Charge 3: Work in collaboration with the FDA to:

• Revise Standard 4 Uniform Inspection Program to address comments contained in the 2012 Work Group's pilot project report.
• Assess and re-evaluate the criteria in Standard 4 to make it more "program focused" rather than focused on the individual.

Charge 4: Report back the Work Group's findings and outcomes to the 2014 Biennial Meeting of the Conference for Food Protection.