Food and health agents from Micronesia learn national regulations at UOG food safety training

Peter Barcinas, interim associate director of the Cooperative Extension & Outreach service at the University of Guam, welcomes food safety professionals from the other islands of Micronesia to a food safety training delivered by the University of Guam and the University of Idaho from Dec. 13–16. (UNIVERSITY OF GUAM COOPERATIVE EXTENSION & OUTREACH)

Training on the latest national food safety requirements made its way to the islands of Micronesia this week via a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture–funded program hosted by the University of Guam and the University of Idaho.

The four-day training brought 14 public health agents, food safety educators, and land-grant extension agents to Guam from Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the islands of Yap, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia to learn about food safety practices to prevent foodborne illnesses.

Foodborne diseases are a significant public health issue across the Western Pacific, according to the World Health Organization, yet few food safety professionals in the region have had access to appropriate resources, including training on the national Food Safety Modernization Act.

Extension food-safety specialist Jang Ho Kim of the University of Idaho, who previously worked with Cooperative Research, Extension, and Education Services at Northern Marianas College on Saipan, is the director of the grant program, titled “Customized Food Safety Education Strategy for Hard-to-Reach Audiences in the Western Pacific Islands.”

“This is a training for agriculture and extension agents, and then they will go out and teach and provide food safety information for their people, like farmers and processors,” he said.

The participants said there is a general lack of awareness about the importance of food safety on their islands. One shared how high electricity costs prompt residents of Kosrae to turn off their refrigerators overnight, increasing the risk of food contamination.

Fourteen public health agents, food safety educators, and land-grant extension agents from Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia completed training on food safety from Dec. 13–16 at the University of Guam in collaboration with the University of Idaho. (UNIVERSITY OF GUAM COOPERATIVE EXTENSION & OUTREACH)

“I’m excited to bring back the training materials and try to tailor fit it to what we practice back home, especially in the hospital because that’s where we serve the most vulnerable people,” said Steward Molens, a nutritionist at Pohnpei State Hospital.

Joining Kim in delivering the training were UOG food scientist Jian Yang; director of the Food Technology Center at the University of Idaho Joshua Bevan; and Douglas Marshall, chief scientific officer for Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories Inc. out of Colorado.

“You’re the future of the food system in Guam and Micronesia,” Peter Barcinas, interim associate director of UOG’s extension service, said to the participants. “I hope that as you look at your food system and the credentialing of the people that support your institutional markets, you’ll think of us and future training that’s ahead and take advantage of any capacity building like this and look to your partners for support.” (UOG)