In 2024, the Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education and the NAMI Scholarship Foundation merged under the new name, Meat Foundation. Now, the Meat Foundation and the Meat Institute are officially launching “Foundations of Listeria Control,” a free online training course that will train meat and poultry company employees with no prior background on the basics of Listeria control.

“The Meat Institute has long offered its popular ‘Advanced Workshop for Listeria’ to food safety and quality professionals,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “This new Foundations program will further promote a culture of food safety in our member companies by training employees in other roles like operations, maintenance, sanitation and leadership. This module reinforces the Meat Institute’s commitment to establishing a whole of company approach to prevent foodborne illness.

"More than 20 Meat Institute member company representatives contributed to the content of these modules. The Foundations program is accessible, practical and comprehensive and we hope it will be an important part of food safety training for the industry."

In addition to Meat Institute member companies and the Meat Foundation, the American Meat Science Association contributed to the creation of content and provided financial support for the project as a Technical Assistance Provider through the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Meat & Poultry Processing Technical Assistance Program.

Details of the Foundations of Listeria Control:

• Nine modules averaging 15 minutes in length. 
• The entire course takes about 2 and a half hours to complete, including time for the questions. 
• The course is free and accessible to anyone. There is an optional fee if the participant wishes to purchase a certificate of completion. 
• Participants do not need any prior knowledge. 
• While designed to address Listeria in ready-to-eat operations, many foundational concepts are covered that apply broadly. Employees in raw operations or non-meat facilities may find the instruction helpful.

This is the latest in a series of tangible initiatives led by the Meat Institute to re-emphasize food safety as a top priority for its members. Earlier in 2025, a task force was created to build a set of tools and templates for top company executives to use in governing and promoting a food safety culture.

Continuing the conversation from the Food Safety Conference, the Meat Institute is offering a Food Safety Exchange Series designed to provide ongoing education and insight on the critical issues shaping food safety.

In addition, the Meat Institute offers the “Advanced Listeria monocytogenes Intervention & Control Workshop” twice a year with the next held October 22-23, in Kansas City, Mo.

And finally, the Meat Institute joined the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, expanding its access to food safety best practices and other efforts to prevent foodborne illness on behalf of meat and poultry companies.

Source: Meat Institute