Question from an Aspiring Food Professional:

Young professionals provide great opportunities for the experienced folk to be great mentors.

A young Food Science professional asked: “How can I improve my experience and improve my knowledge of Food Hygiene & Good Manufacturing Practices?” 

Freely share what you know because knowledge diminishes if it is hoarded.

A recent Food Science and Technology graduate, upon reading some of my posts, sent me a message with this question. Other young professionals starting out in the food safety and quality management profession or planning to enter this field may be asking the same question.

Here are some of the points in my response:

An academic background in food science or related field is good place to start. Once employed, the practical everyday experiences at work (good or bad) provide very good learning opportunities. Ongoing professional development training may also be necessary. Such training could be obtained through short courses, seminars and professional certification programs by reputable organizations or institutions. In every case, the courses should offer practical content based on real experiences along with real opportunities for practice. The post on "Mercenary or MOM Training” provides additional information about how to determine what courses are good to take.

Secondly, any practicing or prospective professional will benefit from reading as broadly as possible. Reading the news about actual related events in the industry, as well as following open forum discussions could be helpful. Participating with comments, questions, etc., could also provide very good opportunities to learn and test your knowledge.

Other veterans in the food safety and quality management profession may have things to add. As for current veterans, we must first regain respect for the food safety and quality management profession. Spreading misinformation and commercialized complicity will not help this at all. Plain honesty about current failures with a determined and demonstrated effort at pursuing real (not superficial) solutions will. We must re-establish the trustworthiness of the profession. Otherwise, we will not have a worthwhile legacy to pass on to future generations.

Please share your thoughts if you have anything to add. This may even be a question.

Posted by Felix Amiri

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Felix Amiri is currently the chair of GCSE-Food & Health Protection, and a sworn SSQA advocate.