SQF Practitioner

As consumers become more self-educated about how products are being produced from product ingredients to safe food handling practices, retailers are depending on suppliers to have food safety controls in place to give reassurance to consumers that Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are effective Food Safety Principles being followed. This is when a Safe Quality Food Practitioner comes into place. A SQF (Safe Quality Food) Practitioner is one who develops, implements and maintains a SQF system for a supplier.

The SQF practitioner shall:

• Be employed by the site as a company employee on a full-time basis;
• Hold a position of responsibility in relation to the management of the site’s SQF System;
• Have completed a HACCP training course and preventive controls for human food training course
• Be competent to implement and maintain HACCP based food safety plans and the preventive controls for human food plan ; and
• Have an understanding of the SQF Food Safety Code for Manufacturing and the requirements to implement and maintain an SQF System relevant to the site’s scope of certification.

The following course will provide knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of the SQF practitioner and how they ensure supplies are in compliance with an internationally recognized and accredited Food Safety Management System which will support compliance to the FSMA rules. They will also learn about the different modules, food sectors and the certification process incl. certification audits, scoring systems and the structure of the SQF code.

By the end of this training course, participants will be able to:

• Implement the requirements of the SQF code
• Identify gaps in the current processes and systems to protect their product.
• Understand how HACCP principles are used to develop food safety and food quality plans.
• Prepare for SQF certification and auditing
• Identify training and qualification needs for employees

The Participant will receive a certificate of successful completion for the course after passing a written knowledge test following the training course. Participants can also take the online certification exam at the SQFI Institute.

The course is designed for:

• Anyone involved in planning and implementing SQF systems who intend to become a SQF Practitioner

Two day course: 16 hours