Augusta, Maine – The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) is pleased to announce an upcoming Quality Assurance and Regulations (QAR) advanced HACCP Class:Cooking and Curing Controls—Meat and Poultry HACCP for Artisanal, Value-Added, and Shelf-Stable Recipes.

This in-person training opportunity is tailored specifically for Maine meat and poultry processors to provide them with the regulatory information they need to add value-added, shelf-stable, and artisanal products to their HACCP systems.

Registration is $100 per attendee and includes learning materials and lunch for each participant. The class will be held on March 14, 2025, at the Bolton Hill Forestry Conference Space, located at 2870 North Belfast Ave., Augusta, Maine 04330.

What is covered in this course? 

This advanced HACCP course is designed for small-scale meat and poultry processors with basic HACCP knowledge or experience who are looking to gain exposure to the use of industry guidelines and scientific support for the development of controls for specialty processes including cooking, smoking, drying, and fermenting. Including:

• Overview of meat and poultry science to illustrate how product environments can harbor or preclude pathogens of concern at different points in specialty product preparation.
• Introduction to USDA – Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) Draft Guidelines for meat and poultry specialty processes, controlling Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat products, and curing calculations.
• Tools for finding and using scientific literature published by Cooperative Extension programs and other food safety researchers to support process controls and pathogen reduction in specific meat and poultry recipes.
• Selection and monitoring of critical control points in specialty meat and poultry processes.