New course for baking professionals offers instruction on sanitary equipment design

The Bakery Equipment Assessment Group (BEAG) is offering a new course to provide baking professionals with the skills needed to ensure their company’s equipment meets national standards of sanitary design. The course will launch in September.

The Certified Internal Equipment Evaluator Online Training Course will educate participants how to apply the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z50.2 standard of hygienic equipment design. They will learn the history of food safety, Good Manufacturing Practices and recognize the importance of hygienic design and safe food production. 

“This certification empowers professionals to ensure their equipment not only meets but exceeds industry standards, reinforcing their dedication to quality and food safety,” said Jon Anderson, BEAG’s managing consultant.

The course features four online modules, more than six hours of interactive educational content and access to the Z50.2 Standard PDF. Participants can work at their own pace and will receive a Certified Internal Equipment Evaluator certificate once they pass the final exam.

Certified evaluators will have the authority to certify their company's equipment through BEAG’s Recognition of Conformity, which ensures compliance with rigorous sanitation standards. 

“This platform provides a cost effective, interactive training tool to help ensure food safety for our suppliers, bakers and most importantly the millions of people this industry feeds,” said Jeremiah Tilghman, chairman of the BEAG Board of Directors. “Equipment suppliers now have a way to become certified via an online program.”

BEAG is a nonprofit group that works with bakery equipment manufacturers to assess equipment and determine conformity with the latest ANSI standards for hygienic design of bakery equipment. The American Society of Baking (ASB) oversees the Z50.1 and Z50.2 standard development and review process, ensuring it is done in accordance with ANSI’s due process.

This certification previously required professionals to travel to complete the course in person, noted Kristen Spriggs, ASB executive director.

“We took a two-day, in-person course and through online learning techniques condensed the learning experience to a few hours with enhanced interactive tools,” Spriggs said. “Our mission is to deliver valuable education to the industry’s workforce as efficiently and effectively as possible. Keeping bakeries safe and efficient is paramount to both BEAG and ASB.”

For more information about the course, go to beagroup.org.