Dedicated to improving public health
The International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) is a non-profit organization building and administering the training infrastructure for the nation’s integrated food safety system.
Working with federal regulatory and public health officials, IFPTI is establishing and overseeing the implementation of a career-spanning food protection training curriculum that will increase capacity, and assure competency and equivalency throughout all regulatory jurisdictions in meeting established U.S. federal food safety standards.
IFPTI is a member of the GFPI global initiative, a knowledge-exchange and resource-development network seeking to influence the adoption of food protection practices and policies in pursuit of a safe, secure, and healthy food supply.
Financial support for IFPTI is provided by a grant from the Food and Drug Administration, and through the generosity of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Filling an unmet need
More than 90% of food safety inspections in U.S. food manufacturing and distribution establishments are carried out by state and local agencies. Yet there is:
- No mandatory training
- No career-spanning, standards-based training curriculum
- No national integrated food safety system
The overwhelming reason for this lack of training is inadequate funding. A study by Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, found this in 2000 and an IFPTI survey of 170 respondents shows it’s still the case in 2012. Many state and local offices will no longer fund travel.
Challenges with existing courses include
- Lack standardization
- Availability
- Consistency
- Absence of peer review
- Difficulties updating to current policies
- Duplication
- Contradictions
There are no standards in place for food protection course development, determining course needs, setting priorities, etc.
IFPTI aims to
- Develop and implement a national food safety training system.
- Develop and implement a national certification system to help ensure comparable and competent performance of food safety staff at the international, federal, state, local, territorial and tribal levels.
To build an integrated system we will
- Develop a Training Network to provide technical, management, and leadership training to regulatory and public health officials.
- Serve as a hub for the administration of a training network.
- Develop and deliver standards-based training programs.
- Build an Instructor cadre to ensure the availability of highly trained instructors within regulatory and public health agencies across all jurisdictions.