Regular annual training seminars for Bulgarian SMEs - Ensuring the quality and safety of food

There is a lack of public awareness in this field. A link between the educational institutions and the SMEs should be established which is grounded by the organization of these kinds of events. The training seminars are annual, the themes discussed cover information such as food safety, fraud prevention, and consumer care in the production industry. One problem addressed is the deficit on the market of well-trained and skilled personnel, in line with the dynamics of the sector's development. Last but not least is the miscommunication or the lack of communication between the business and the academic sector. Eleven trainings have been organized up to this date, for each consecutive year. The audience varies somewhere between 30-60 participants.
The practice reaches its objective through the provision of important theoretical knowledge of the most common types of pathogenic microorganisms in food and hygiene indicators, modern fast methods for microbiological control, and approaches for their validation, as well as the requirements of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency for the food chain essentials. There is a potential both “for learning” and for “transfer” because the SMEs involved are sharing with other groups of companies, which consequently learn and transfer the knowledge obtained to other potentially interested parties.