The Government of the Virgin Islands in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization is offering its third cohort of the ServSafe Food Protection Manager Course in an effort to reduce the burden of foodborne diseases in the Caribbean.

Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer, Ms. Henrietta Alexander said that so far 60 senior managers, owners or persons in a position to effect change have been trained.  “The sessions have been very interactive.  The participants have been fully engaged and we are confident that they will return to their respective food establishments as change beacons ready and willing to implement the necessary food safety measures and practices to enhance food safety locally,” Ms. Alexander said.

Key personnel in the food industry from both private and public sectors are invited to register to attend the three day ServSafe Food Protection Manager Training course from October 23 to 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily.

   Persons approved to attend the training should meet the criteria below.

1. Food Business Owners/Managers/ Supervisors
2. Food Business Human Resource Personnel
3. Food Business Financial Officers
4. Food Business Senior Management [who is able to make management decisions]
5. Government Agencies/Departments (Tourism, Agriculture and Health)

“Only 20 spaces are available and this will be the last course for the year,” Ms. Alexander advised. 

Persons interested in obtaining this five year certification, should email their name, place of employment, phone number, highest level of education attained and position to ehd@gov.vg and cc halexander@gov.vg.

Servsafe is a USA based certification training course in Food Safety Science and is internationally recognized and accepted by several countries. It focuses on the technical and managerial aspects of Food Safety Science and is applicable to the Virgin Islands. It emphasizes the importance of preventing foodborne diseases in food businesses.