Food Safety Advisor Program
What is a Food Safety Advisor?
A WSU Food Safety Advisor that is a person who completes a 40 hour training on food safety, food handling and storage tips, and food preservation methods. The volunteer then agrees to commit 60 hours of time working in the community sharing their knowledge of food safety and food preservation to assure safe food for their families.
How do Food Safety Advisors share their knowledge with others?
WSU Food Safety Advisors volunteer by answering consumer questions through a phone calls and email contacts, staffing booths at farmers market, community events and at local farmer fruit stands. They also test pressure gauges around the community, hold classes for groups upon request. There are opportunities to work with adults and youth in small groups and in large events.
Training
The training for Food Safety Advisors training usually occurs in the spring. Call WSU Extension at 360-397-6060 for information on upcoming trainings. For an application or more information about the program complete our training request form.
Typical Training
Week One
Food Storage & Safety
- Causes and Prevention of Foodborne illness
- What are bacteria, parasites, molds, and viruses
- Food Handling guidelines
- Potentially Hazardous foods
- Time and Temperature
- Storing foods Safely
- Handling Foods Safely
Freezing Fruits and Vegetables
- Principles of freezing food
- Food packaging and tips in packaging
- Techniques in freezing fruits, vegetables, prepared foods
- What to do when the freezer goes off
Week Two
Food Preservation Safety
- Why preserve foods
- How does preservation prevent spoilage
Drying Fruits and Vegetables
- Methods and techniques of food dehydration
- Drying Equipment
- Storage of dehydrated foods
- Drying samples
Week Three
Canning Basics
- Canning equipment and supplies
- Determining the correct canning method
- What causes problems in canning
- How much produce is needed
Canning Acid Foods
- Processing procedures
- Hot pack versus cold pack
- Canning fruits, tomatoes and salsa
- Canning pie filling
Canning Experiments
- Canned pie filling
- Canned apples
- Canned tomatoes
Week Four
Pickling
- Types of pickled or fermented foods
- Equipment and ingredients
- How to preserve quick pack or fermented pickles and sauerkraut
- Pickle and relish problems and solutions
Pickle Experiments
- Pickled green beans or other vegetable
- Marinated mushrooms
- Sauerkraut in a jar
Week Five
Jams and Jellies
- Equipment and supplies
- Definition of various fruit spreads
- General procedures in making jams and jellies
- Low sugar jams and jellies
- Procedures in making juices and syrups
Experiments
- Low sugar jam or jelly
- Making jelly – extracted juice and from commercial juice
- Making jam
Week Six
Pressure Canning and Canning Low Acid Foods
- Equipment and supplies
- Using a pressure canner
- Canning vegetables, peppers, meat, fish, poultry
- Vegetables in oil
- Solving problems in canned low-acid products
- Testing pressure canner gauges – how to, when and why
Experiments
- Canning vegetables – carrots, green beans
- Canning meat or stew
- Testing canner gauges
Week Seven
- Review
- Answering Questions
- Record keeping
- Volunteer Activities
- Potluck
- Final Exam