Employee Training for Listeria Control of RTE Seafood Smoked Fish Crabmeat Crawfish

Taking the Hysteria Out of Employee Training Basic training on Listeria for all Employees Training for Workers in Finished Product Areas Specific Training for Cleaning and Sanitation Personnel

Tailor Training to Meet Your Needs Suggestion – Conduct all training “on the job” or “on location” Basic Training on Listeria – provide to all employees in large group Listeria Controls in Finished Product Areas – conduct training in small groups of 5 – 10 workers Cleaning and Sanitation – Conduct training with the 3-4 workers who have this job function in each area of the plant.

Training Approach and Format Approach: In-plant training conducted by Plant Personnel Format: PowerPoint Presentations, handouts,and demonstrations Key: Tailor the training to meet specific needs of your plant

Listeria Controls for RTE Seafood What is Listeria? Why are we concerned about Listeria? Where is Listeria found? What can I do as an employee of a smoked fish, crab or crawfish processing plant? This is the first slide in the basic training on Listeria, basic employee hygiene, and hand washing for ALL employees. ________________________ Use this slide to introduce yourself and the training program. Explain that your company is making changes to deal with this new problem. Use the team concept if appropriate – company and employees must work together. Outline what your company is doing to address this problem: For example – new construction, new equipment, new sanitation supplier/supplies, screening suppliers of raw products, changes in product flow in the plant etc. Describe the purpose of this training – For example: To remind all employees what they need to do to minimize this problem. Describe what will be covered: What Listeria is and why it’s important. Company expectations for personal hygiene, good food handling practices and hand washing.

Basic Training on Listeria Introduction to Listeria Potential impacts on consumers and companies Risk assessment and regulations Review company procedures for personal hygiene and food handling Company Hand Washing Requirements

Listeria Controls in Finished Product (Higher Risk) Areas Preventing Cross Contamination This is the first slide in the second training program for employees who work in exposed finished product areas. ________________________________________ Use this slide to introduce yourself, the training program, and why training is important. You may want to remind the employees in this training program about the general program on Listeria Controls for all employees that they’ve already attended. You could review some of the key points on what Listeria is and why it’s important and why good personal hygiene and food handling practices are important. Refer back to first training slide set if necessary to review important points. Before starting this program you should decide whether or not you want to conduct any demonstrations or any group activities. If you want to conduct the activity that uses Glo-Germ or some other aid to demonstrate how cross contamination can occur and how bacteria can be easily transferred from one place to another you will need to set it up just before the training. You also need to think about how you want to demonstrate the “How To” sections of this training program such as how to clean work areas, how to clean and sanitize equipment before moving from raw to finished product areas etc. Depending on the number of people involved, it may be possible to conduct the entire training program in the work area or you may want to go through the slide set in one location and then go into the work area to conduct any demonstrations that are needed.

Training for workers in exposed finished products areas What is Cross Contamination and how to prevent it. Role of employee and equipment movement in the plant. Importance of hand washing and sanitizing after touching/handling unsanitary objects. Specific company policies and procedures.

Plant Cleaning and Sanitation to Control Listeria This is the first slide in the training program for employees that conduct cleaning and sanitation in areas where exposed finished products are handled. ________________________________________ Goal = Training for all people who conduct cleaning and sanitizing tasks. This lesson will be most effective if followed by hands-on training. It is important to demonstrate the proper use of cleaning equipment and the proper sequence for cleaning and sanitizing. This can best be accomplished by actually demonstrating the procedures you use to employees in the location(s) where they are conducted. Prior to conducting the training it is important to review your current cleaning and sanitizing procedures for each area of the plant. Any modifications or updates should be made before training so that employees will learn the proper procedures. If there is a dedicated cleaning and sanitizing crew for the whole plant they would be trained in all procedures. If workers in specific areas of the plant clean and sanitize at the end of the day they need to be trained on those procedures they are responsible for. The specific procedures that need to be covered in this training, at a minimum, are the ones described in the Year 2 Listeria control plan. Separate training may need to be conducted for employees in raw areas and employees in finished product areas.

Cleaning and Sanitizing in Exposed Finished Product Areas Company procedures Description and demonstration of specific company cleaning and sanitizing Monitoring, reporting and problem solving.

Safe Food Depends on You Four Training Modules with lessons Video, and Posters available in both English and Spanish Modules include: Personal Hygiene Temperature Control Preventing Cross-Contamination Cleaning and Sanitation

Safe Food Depends on You Sample lesson/demonstration Hand washing Review how and when to wash hands. See Lesson 1. Personal Hygiene (pg. 11) Use additional activities described on page 13 to demonstrate effectiveness of company procedures.

Where Can I Find Training Resources? Workshop Materials Safe Food Depends On You UC Davis web site Training Resources -http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/Pubs/99resources.htm USDA/FDA Foodborne Illness Education Information Center http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodborne/haccp/index.shtml

Listeria Control Manual for Smoked Fish Listeria Control Strategies for RTE Seafood Products How to obtain: Handouts for workshop USDA Ag Library Cornell Sea Grant Program/website

Training is an ongoing process Train all employees At hire before they start work At least once per year Keep records of all training Record date Type of training

Adapt Training Programs for Your Facility Use hands-on demos where ever possible and demonstrate actual procedures used in the plant. Replace pictures in PowerPoint presentations with pictures and graphics from your plant. Example – See XYZ Crawfish

FOOD INDUSTRY RULES TRAINING SESSION XYZ Crawfish Plant, Their Town, USA FOOD INDUSTRY RULES TRAINING SESSION February, 2003

What is going on? Food borne illnesses are responsible: People are getting seriously ill and dying from food borne illnesses Food borne illnesses are responsible: 300,000 Hospital Cases/Year 5,000 Deaths/Year

What about our Crawfish Processing Industry? What is going on? Listeria

Listeria Controls for Crawfish Meat What is Listeria? Why are we concerned about Listeria? What can I do as an employee of a crawfish processing plant?

What is it? Listeria are invisible bacteria (germs) that can cause illness. When people eat foods that contain one type, Listeria monocytogenes, it can cause: Miscarriage in pregnant women Brain infection and blood poisoning in babies, elderly people, and people with a weakened immune system.

Why do we have to worry about Listeria in our plant? Crawfish tail meat is a “Ready-to- Eat” Food that may NOT be cooked before it is eaten. Normally, when we cook foods before we eat them any harmful bacteria like Listeria that might be present are killed during cooking.