Becoming a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual

By: Hilary Thesmar, PhD, RD, FMI Vice President, Food Safety Programs, Food Marketing Institute and Stephanie Barnes, Regulatory Counsel, Food Marketing Institute

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues its implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which significantly overhauls the country’s food safety system.  The agency has already released several of the law’s final rules, and two additional key rules are expected over the next few months.  In September 2015, FDA released the Preventive Controls for Human Food final rule, which requires covered food facilities to create written food safety plans that include hazard analyses and preventive controls, among other requirements.

This week, FMI hosted a three-day training session that allows food retailers and other interested parties to become preventive controls qualified individuals (PCQI) as defined by FDA through a curriculum developed through the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA).  Under the preventive controls rule, certain food safety tasks must be performed by a PCQI.  We trained representatives from several FMI member companies, who are now qualified to perform many of the tasks required under FSMA.

There will be many additional opportunities for your food safety professionals to become trained as a preventive controls qualified individual in the coming months.  FMI will be hosting another preventive controls training session in March, and we will provide future educational sessions on additional FSMA rules to ensure that the supermarket industry is fully prepared as we approach key compliance dates.

Related FMI FSMA Materials:

• Registration Link for March Training
• FMI Slides on Preventive Controls Final Rule
• FMI Generic Food Safety Plan for Distribution Centers
• FMI Overview of FSMA Provisions
• FMI FSMA Resources Webpage

Disclaimer: The information provided by the FSPCA is for training purposes only and is intended as a training tool to assist companies in complying with FSMA, but does not ensure compliance with FDA’s regulations or any other law or legal requirement.