News Release
For Immediate Release — January 30, 2012
UT Extension Launches Online Domestic Kitchen Certification Course
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Earning certification to prepare, manufacture and sell certain foods from a home kitchen is now more convenient for Tennesseans thanks to a new online training module from University of Tennessee Extension.
Domestic Kitchen Food Safety Training, which launches Wednesday, Feb. 1, provides instruction centered around the state’s Domestic Kitchen Rule. The rule allows people to commercially prepare, manufacture and sell non-potentially hazardous foods in the home while ensuring the public’s health is protected.
Examples of non-potentially hazardous foods include jams, jellies, candies and certain baked goods.
“We think that bringing the Domestic Kitchen Food Safety training online will improve accessibility to the required training for entrepreneurs who wish to produce non-potentially hazardous foods in their domestic kitchen,” said Dr. Faith Critzer, an assistant professor in the UT Department of Food Science and Technology and a UT Extension specialist.
Critzer — along with Dr. P. Michael Davidson, professor and head of UT’s Department of Food Science and Technology, and John Sanford, Tennessee Department of Agriculture administrator for food manufacturing — will teach the course.
Richard Karel with UT’s Office of Information Technology helped Critzer and Davidson transform the course from a traditional classroom format to the new online version. For those who prefer face-to-face training, Critzer and Davidson will continue to lead the course in a traditional classroom setting several times per year.
Participants who successfully complete the program earn certification from the UT Food Science and Technology Extension program. Certification is the first step toward meeting requirements to manufacture non-potentially hazardous foods in a domestic kitchen.
Foods are considered non-potentially hazardous if they do not consist mainly of meat, poultry, liquid eggs, partially cooked egg products, fish, milk and milk products, shellfish, partially cooked bakery products, or other ingredients susceptible to the rapid growth of microorganisms when stored out of recommended temperature ranges for cold or hot foods.
Other prohibited foods include low-acid canned vegetables and acidified foods such as salsa or pickled vegetables.
Individuals interested in forming a catering business (made-to-order birthday cakes, wedding cakes, etc.) are not required to take the course and should contact a local health department for information regarding regulations.
In addition, individuals with an inside pet of any kind will not qualify as a food manufacturer under the Domestic Kitchen Rule.
Tennessee residents seeking the online certification should visit the UT Extension Online Learning website at http://tiny.utk.edu/kitchencert beginning Feb. 1. The course fee is $75, which is payable online. First-time site users must create an account.
For more information, contact Nancy Austin in the Department of Food Science and Technology at 865-974-7717 or naustin@utk.edu.
UT Extension provides a gateway to the University of Tennessee as the outreach unit of the Institute of Agriculture. With an office in every Tennessee county, UT Extension delivers educational programs and research-based information to citizens throughout the state. In cooperation with Tennessee State University, UT Extension works with farmers, families, youth and communities to improve lives by addressing problems and issues at the local, state and national levels.
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Contacts:
Dr. Faith Critzer, Assistant Professor and UT Extension Specialist, 865-974-7274, fathc@utk.edu
Dr. P. Michael Davidson, Professor and Head, Department of Food Science and Technology, 865-974-7331, pmdavidson@utk.edu