June 1, 2004
Contact: Gulhan Yuksel at (208) 885-7771 or gulhan@uidaho.edu in Moscow;
Jeff Kronenberg at (208) 364-4083 or jkron@uidaho.edu in Boise, or
communications specialist Marlene Fritz at (208) 384-0649 or
mfritz@uidaho.edu, also in Boise.
Aug. 16-20 Short Course in Boise Offers Practical
Training in Rapid Detection of Foodborne Microbes
BOISE, Idaho-University of Idaho food microbiologist Gulhan
Yuksel has a proven commitment to teaching food industry professionals
about disease-causing microorganisms.
This summer in Boise, she will expand her course offerings
to a new 4 1/2-day short course in advanced food microbiology.
Participants from throughout the region and nation will get substantial
hands-on practice with popular, rapid-detection tests for Listeria
monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and
Salmonella.
"These are the major pathogenic foodborne bacteria that
cause illness and economic loss every single year in the U.S.," Yuksel
says. "We want the students to be able to use these tests with comfort,
make comparisons and pick the ones that suit their needs."
The short course will be offered Aug. 16-20 at Boise State
University. Co-sponsors include the University of Idaho Department of
Food Science and Toxicology, Boise State University Department of
Biology, Intermountain Section of the Institute of Food Technologists,
Northwest Food Processors Association, Marsh Advantage America, Hardy
Diagnostics and Biotrace International BioProducts.
The course is one of the few advanced food microbiology
workshops offered nationwide. In an unusually cost-effective, condensed
package, it provides participants with both advanced principles and
hands-on lab practice for pathogen testing.
"We have a history of providing service to the food
companies in Idaho," says Denise Smith, Yuksel's department head.
"Reaching out to industry is incredibly important to us, and now we see
an opportunity to expand beyond Idaho."
Participants who enroll by Aug. 2 will pay just $950.
Need-based partial and full scholarships are available upon request.
Short course participants will receive certificates of completion and
can earn continuing education credits.
Jeff Kronenberg, University of Idaho Extension food
processing specialist in Boise, says he's glad to be able to keep the
course fee so low. With food industry profits narrowing and foodborne
pathogens contributing to 5,000 deaths and 75 million illnesses each
year, more and more U.S. companies must find the means to train key
employees in rapid-testing technologies. "Nowadays, you have to be able
to test your incoming, in-process and finished products-and the plant
environment-very rapidly so you can still meet your just-in-time
delivery requirements," he says.
In addition, with concerns building nationally about food
biosecurity, food processing firms "need to be more aware and actually
enhance their testing and capabilities to make sure their food is safe,"
Smith notes.
The advanced food microbiology short course is aimed at
laboratory managers, technicians and other food industry personnel
involved in food safety and sanitation in both the public and private
sectors. Yuksel says students should have prior experience in
microbiology, either through the introductory short course she teaches
or through a college microbiology course or practical job experience.
She will lecture interactively for a couple of hours each
morning before lab sessions begin, addressing microbial food safety, the
epidemiology of foodborne illnesses, indicator microorganisms and
microbiological criteria, detection of microorganisms in foods, and the
four major food pathogens. In the lab itself, the students will learn to
use immune- and protein-based tests by Biocontrol Systems, Neogen, 3-M
Microbiology, Oxoid, bioMerieux and International BioProducts.
"Teaching these short courses is really enjoyable," says
Yuksel. "When the participants get back to work, they realize they are
better microbiologists than they were before-and I think they really
enjoy that."
For more information, contact Kronenberg at (208) 364-4083
or jkron@uidaho.edu or Yuksel at (208) 885-7771 or gulhan@uidaho.edu. To
register, call (877) 426-3797 or click on www.techhelp.org
<http://www.techhelp.org/> .
Jeff Kronenberg
Food Processing Specialist
University of Idaho- Extension
Department of Food Science and Toxicology
TechHelp Idaho
UI Boise
800 Park Blvd., Suite 200
Boise, ID 83712
208 364-4083
208 867-6477 (cell)
208 387-1246 (fax)
Email: jkron@uidaho.edu
Text Messaging: 2088676477@mobile.att.net
Web: www.techhelp.org www.ag.uidaho.edu/fst/
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