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Today's News |
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| Valentine Offer On VWA Food Safety Training Courses |
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 When love is in the air, the head hardly gets a look in, which is why VWA have slashed £60 off two of thier food safety courses.
The courses are:
* Level 3 Award in Supervising Food Safety
Ideal for supervisors and team leaders working in a food manufacturing, catering, or retailing environment. Also suitable for those in food distribution or packaging.
Was £460 **NOW £400 + VAT**
* Level 4 Award in Managing Food Safety
This advanced food safety course studies the management aspects of food safety for food manufacturing or catering. Ideal for technical managers, QA managers, head chefs, training managers and essential for food safety trainers.
Was £785 **NOW £725 + VAT**
Click HERE for more information on the courses.
To find out more contact Claire Lennon on 01756 700802 or email
claire.lennon@vwa.co.uk |
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| Item last updated: Monday January 30 2012 09:41 |
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| Campden & IFR Create Study System For Salmonella |
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 Salmonella remains a serious cause of food poisoning in the UK and throughout the EU, in part due to its ability to thrive and quickly adapt to the different environments in which it can grow.
New research involving a team of IFR scientists, funded by BBSRC, has taken the first detailed look at what Salmonella does when it enters a new environment, which could provide clues to finding new ways of reducing transmission through the food chain and preventing human illness.
Bacteria can multiply rapidly, potentially doubling every 20 minutes in ideal conditions. However, this exponential growth phase is preceded by a period known as lag phase, where no increase in cell number is seen. Lag phase was first described in the 19th Century, and was assumed to be needed by bacteria to prepare to exploit new environmental conditions.
Beyond this, surprisingly little was known about lag phase, other than bacteria are metabolically active in this period. But exactly what are bacteria doing physiologically during this period?
To fill in this knowledge gap researchers at IFR, along with colleagues at Campden BRI, a membership-based organisation carrying out research and development for the food and drinks industry, have developed a simple and robust system for studying the biology of Salmonella during lag phase. In this system, lag phase lasts about two hours, but the cells sense their new environment remarkably quickly, and within four minutes switch on a specific set of genes, including some that control the uptake of specific nutrients.
For example, one nutrient accumulated is phosphate which is needed for many cellular processes, and a gene encoding a phosphate transporter was the most upregulated gene during the first four minutes of lag phase. The cellular uptake mechanisms for iron were also activated during lag phase, and are needed for key aspects of bacterial metabolism. This increase in iron leads to a short term sensitivity to oxidative damage. Manganese and calcium are also accumulated in lag phase, but are lost from the cell during exponential growth.
This new understanding of Salmonella metabolism during lag phase show how rapidly Salmonella senses favourable conditions and builds up the materials needed for growth. This study was carried out by two BBSRC-CASE studentships, which were partially funded by Campden BRI.
Future research to work out the regulatory mechanisms behind these processes and the switch from lag phase to exponential growth will tell us more about how Salmonella can flourish in different environments, and could point to new ways of controlling its transmission in the food chain.
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| Item last updated: Monday January 30 2012 09:41 |
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| Save Up To £125 In Last Days Of VWA Courses January Sale |
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 Hurry! Time is running out to make savings of up to £125 per person with Verner Wheelock Associates’ January Sale.
Delegates booking by 31 January this year can benefit from a 5% discount on selected specialist food industry training courses by the award-winning company.
The courses include Training the Trainer, a recognised qualification for anyone wanting to train others in food safety and nutrition; Creating Savoury Flavours, the only course of its kind in the UK and ideal for those working in flavour and seasoning formulations, ready meals and snack foods; Understanding Flavours which examines the role of flavours and gives insight into their creation; and HACCP Validation and Verification which is an ideal refresher for those who need to review their HACCP knowledge at intermediate/advanced level.
Also included in the sale are VWA’s brand new courses for 2012. Legal Labelling provides a working knowledge of legislative requirements for food composition and labelling. It covers nutrition and health claims, origin marking, date coding, additives, allergens, and ingredients declarations.
The company has also introduced two new courses to help manufacturers understand new standards issued by the British Retail Consortium. The BRC Issue 6 course focuses on updates to the Global Standard for Food Safety, which came into force this month, and helps delegates to prepare for their next BRC audit with confidence. The BRC Issue 4 Packaging course provides expert help in ensuring that clients who wish to achieve certification against the latest Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials can meet the stringent requirements in terms of safety, legality and quality, and also requirements for HACCP.
Another new course addresses the increasing concern of food allergies and intolerances which affects up to 4% of adults and 6% of children in the UK. Managing Food Allergens in Manufacturing includes guidance on the effective control of allergens in the food supply from supplier to delivery; risk assessment; cleaning and validation; testing and labelling.
Full details of all courses including dates and prices can be found at www.vwa.co.uk or by calling 01756 700802 |
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| Item last updated: Monday January 30 2012 09:41 |
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