Eleven (11) firms/associations, who were beneficiaries of various programs implemented by DOST-Biliran, were the pre-identified participants of the said training. The group is composed of 5 GIA beneficiaries and partners, 4 SETUP cooperators, 1 YRRP recipient, and 1 Food Safety consultancy beneficiary.
On the first day, Mr. Aristotle Mazo, a member of the Eastern Visayas Food Safety Team and the Resource Speaker, oriented the participants about food safety emphasizing on the different food hazards. Meanwhile, Ms. Isabelita M. Pamposa, another Resource Speaker and also an EVFST Member, discussed in details the various areas of GMP. On the second day, Ms. Pamposa briefly discussed the FDA electronic registration requirements and guidelines, as well as, the need to conform to the Phillippine National Standards (PNS). After which, she discussed about the preparation of a Sanitation Standard Operating Procedure (SSOP).
A workshop on how to prepare SSOP was conducted to complete the needed skill of the attendees to prepare said document for their own use as applied to their respective operation. The training is a basic requirement for any food enterprises to be able to apply for a License to Operate (LTO) with the FDA. The Certificates of Participation, which was given to all the participants serves as proof for their knowledge on FS and GMP which is very useful for their operations.
In his closing remarks, Provincial S&T Director Romeo L. Dignos, expressed his thanks to all the participants for attending the training and emphasized the importance of the training for the day to day operation of any food business.(J. Aguirre)