SGS Canada Inc., Canadian Food and Wine Institute partner to enhance food and beverage safety, risk reduction

SGS Canada Inc. and the Canadian Food & Wine Institute (CFWI) at Niagara College have partnered on a new offering that will target risk reduction and provide students the tools needed to demonstrate true risk-based diligence.

The Food Safety Program Optimization (FSPO) is designed to target risk reduction and provide the tools to students to demonstrate true risk-based diligence, notes a statement Monday from Niagara College. The program focuses on hands-on training led by industry professionals.

The partnership – part of CFWI’s new continuing education program called Expert Edge – will allow for providing “a risk-focused, tool kit-based approach to train in the ‘how to’ of food safety management,” the statement points out.

“We have a unique proposition to those seeking to take their careers to the next level in the fields of risk management, auditing and supply chains dealing with food, wine and beer,” comments Jeffrey Steen, manager of corporate training at Niagara College.

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Students and working professionals enrolled in the program – which offers a wide variety of courses, small classes and flexible hours – will work towards a number of certificates, each addressing general industry needs and sector-specific needs within the industry (bakery, brewing, foodservice).

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“We are convinced that we need to prepare students to walk out of the classroom with not just the training to work locally, but provide them with a global perspective to the challenges of feeding a growing world population,” notes Rob Sinyard, vice president of certification and business enhancement at SGS Canada, an inspection, verification, testing and certification company.

Adds CFWI dean Craig Youdale, “We are shaping the future of the Canadian food industry with corporate partners of this caliber.”