HERNANDO, Miss. -- Food safety training courses on March 30 will help make participating in certified farmers markets a little easier for processed food vendors, cottage food operators, and fruit and vegetable producers.

General Food Safety Training and Acidified Canned Foods Training will teach vendors about specific requirements and procedures for selling their products at certified farmers markets in Mississippi. The Mississippi State University Extension Service will host the seminars at the Hernando Gale Center.  

The general food safety session, which begins at 10 a.m., will cover sanitation, risks of processed foods, labeling of cottage foods, safe food handling at farmers markets and temperature controls for sampled foods.

The canned foods session, which starts at 11:30 a.m., will cover recipes, critical controls, facility recommendations, acidification methods, microbiology of acidified foods, pH and water activity of foods, and federal and state food processing regulations.

Training will help producers and vendors who want to expand their businesses or enter new market avenues. Participants who complete the workshop and score satisfactory grades on exams will receive Acidified Canned Foods certifications.

Food processors of acidified canned foods, such as salsas, pickled products and other sauces, are encouraged to attend and can bring product samples for preliminary pH testing.

Juan L. Silva, professor and food safety/thermal processing specialist with the MSU Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, will lead the workshops, along with DeSoto County Extension agent Joy Anderson.

The course is free, but preregistration is required by March 27. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The Gale Center is located at 2601 Elm Street in Hernando.

Visit http://bit.ly/1TMGlBN for a registration form or call Anderson at 662-469-8480 for more information.

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Contact: Dr. Juan Silva, 662-325-8728