Industry staff attain Level 3 Award in Principles of Meat Technology
Date published:
By Rosemary Brennan, Senior Food Technologist, CAFRE
The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) offers its congratulations to recipients of a Level 3 Award in the Principles of Meat Technology. Staff working in the meat industry attended training delivered at Loughry Campus in the spring of 2024.
The Open College Network Northern Ireland (OCN NI) Level 3 Award in the Principles of Meat Technology was developed by Food Technologists at Loughry Campus, in response to demand from the meat industry for a recognised qualification.
Peter Simpson, Head of Food Technology at Loughry Campus commented: “The Northern Ireland Meat Industry, with a turnover of £2.8 billion, employs over 13,800 people and is reliant on having a trained workforce. It is therefore vital that CAFRE supports these businesses by providing appropriate training opportunities. CAFRE is committed to enabling the Northern Ireland food industry to maintain a trained and skilled workforce.”
The course is credit based and allows learners to accumulate credits to continue life-long learning and enable progression to higher level food technology qualifications. To achieve the qualification learners successfully completed the five mandatory units, attaining a total of five credits.
Staff welcomed eleven participants from production, new product development, technical and quality assurance roles within Agri-Food businesses onto the course. Units studied addressed factors affecting meat eating quality, meat product legislation, meat microbiology and shelf life, meat curing and smoking, fermentation technology and burger and sausage manufacture.
The course provided learners with the core knowledge and skills required by a modern food technologist to increase their technical knowledge, as they become more exposed to technological demands.
Sarah Hill, Assistant Technical Manager at Finnebrogue, attended the course and said: “I really enjoyed the course and gained invaluable insights into the science behind many of our production processes. This knowledge has enabled me to explain the rationale behind our processes to my team and the operations team. They can now see why it is essential to maintain these practices and understand how even small factors, such as water temperature, can significantly impact our product quality.”
All participants embraced the course contents and activities with enthusiasm and commitment. Rosemary Brennan, Programme Manager said: “Our course provided an opportunity for the participants to interact with others working in the local meat industry. Learners gained knowledge from experienced tutors helping inform their own specific work practices and had the opportunity to share experiences with other learners.”
If you or staff within your business would be interested in attending the next Level 3 Award programme we are currently registering interest on the CAFRE website.
Or for more information, please contact Programme Manager, Rosemary Brennan by email: Rosemary.Brennan@daera-ni.gov.uk
Notes to editors:
- Photo caption: Congratulations to Finnebrogue staff: David Pereira Henriques, Sarah Hill, Brogan Michie, Ashleigh McCartney on completing a Level 3 Award in Meat Technology. The staff were presented with their certificates by Rosemary Brennan, CAFRE Senior Food Technologist.
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