The University of California, Davis Postharvest Technology Center presents its 15th annual Fresh-cut Products: Maintaining Quality & Safety, Sept. 14-16 on the UC Davis campus. Designed for food professionals, this three-day workshop includes lectures, demonstrations, discussions and current UC Davis research information.

Since interest in fresh-cut fruit and vegetable products is increasing, manufacturers must continually seek new and improved methods of production, processing, packaging and distributing their products with a keen eye for quality. Specific workshop topics include: product biology, quality and preparation; temperature management; microbiology and sanitation; modified atmospheres; and marketing and consumer issues. There will also be product demonstrations and discussion of commodity-specific requirements. Instructors are drawn from UC Davis and other institutions as well as the fresh-cut industry and suppliers.

Operations, quality assurance, manufacturing and maintenance managers, as well as anyone interested in assuring the quality of fresh-cut produce would benefit from this workshop. The training provides a solid overview of this product category and is relevant to all levels of fresh-cut produce industry professionals—from small, local and regional produce processors to large businesses with nationwide distribution. One course participant last year commented, “What made your course different than others were the number of different instructors presenting. You got quality information from several very knowledgeable people. I will definitely recommend this course and hope to come back in the future!”

Cost for the course is $1,050 and includes all program handouts, lunch and morning and afternoon refreshments each day. For more information on the technical program, please contact the workshop coordinator Marita Cantwell, [email protected]. Those interested in registering for this workshop are invited to visit the Postharvest Technology Center’s Web site at http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/Announce/freshcut.shtml. Questions about registration can be answered by Ms. Penny Stockdale at (530) 752-27672 or [email protected].