Preventive Controls for Human Foods (v 2.0) June 10-13, 2025

Course description

The course focuses on identifying and reducing biological, chemical and physical risks in food manufacturing and thereby reduce outbreak incidences and improve public health. The course is based on the US FDA recognized curriculum on ‘Hazard Analysis and Risk Based Preventive Controls for Human Foods’ (HARPC) regulations for manufacturing human foods. A successful completion of this course will result in students becoming ‘preventive controls qualified individuals’ as defined by the US FDA. The course will be based on the revised HARPC currciulum developed by FSPCA ( v 2.0).

Course registration

Click on the Enroll button above. To register for the course and access the instructional materials, you will need to create a FREE associate account with the University of Maryland. We will also use the email address you supply when creating the account to communicate with you prior to and during the course.

Structure of the course

Upon registration, you will be able to access University of Maryland's online educational platform (https://elms.umd.edu/). All the instructional material will be available to you on UMD's educational platform.  You will receive a zoom link to attend the course virtually, 1 week prior to the start of the course. On each day, the course will start at 9:00 AM Eastern US and end at 4:00 PM Eastern US. The total instruction time will be 22 hours spread over four days and participants are required to remain engaged throughout the duration of course. There will be quizzes and group activities to ensure engagement and you are required to participate in them. You will get breaks throughout the day. You attendance is required throughout the duration of the course. You must have the video on at all times. The agenda for the course can be viewed here.

Refresher course

If you previusly attended HARPC course v 1.2 and would like a refersher on the course, please reach out to Dr. Rohan V. Tikekar.

About instructors

Dr. Rohan V. Tikekar, lead instructor: Rohan is an associate professor and extension specialist in the department of nutrition and food science at University of Maryland. His research focuses on investigating food processing technologies for their impact on food safety and quality. His extension work primarily focuses on FSMA related food safety training and providing technical assistance to small and medium scale processors. His research has resulted in over seventy peer-reviewed publications in food safety, quality and processing.

Dr. Shauna Henley, co-instructor: Shauna is a senior agent at University of Maryland Extension. She has been involved with teaching food preservation workshops throughout the state, as part of the "Grow It, Eat It" series. Shauna is actively engaged in food safety education along the food supply chain. At the farm level, Dr. Henley is a FSMA Produce Safety Rule instructor, assists with On-Farm Readiness Reviews and co-teaches Good Agricultural Practices. At the production level, Dr. Henley is a Lead Instructor for FSMA’s Preventive Controls for Human Food, and works with an interdisciplinary team to educate food entrepreneurs on Cottage Law, and other regulations related to a food business. In addition to these activities, Shauna is a ServSafe instructor and exam proctor.

Refund policy

Please contact the instructor at rtikekar@umd.edu. If cancellation occurs prior to the start of the course, you may receive a full refund.

Contact

For questions about the course, please contact Dr. Rohan Tikekar at rtikekar@umd.edu or 301-405-4509. For any other questions, submit an inquiry here: https://exst.umd.edu/contact.