The Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association (WVMA) has announced Dr. Glen Johnson, Reedsburg, as the first veterinarian to achieve Food Armor Accredited Veterinarian status.To achieve this status, Dr. Johnson went through over 15 hours of continuing education on food safety and proper medication use through the Food Armor program. Once complete, he needed to pass a quiz evaluation with a 90 percent or great pass rate.
"To maintain his accreditation status, Dr. Johnson will need to renew his Food Armor Accreditation every two years which includes a continuing education requirement focused on program updates and updates on food safety and proper medication use," says Dr. Katie Mrdutt, Food Armor outreach specialist.
Dr. John Garner, left , and Dr. Katie Mrdutt, right, present Dr. Glen Johnson with his Food Armor Accredited Veterinarian certificate
Dr. Johnson worked with Cattail Dairy, Wonewoc, to help achieve his accreditation. Cattail Dairy is the first farm to become Food Armor Certified.
"For a farm to earn Food Armor certification, they need to work with a Food Armor Accredited Veterinarian to implement and maintain a Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan for proper medication use on their farm which meets all of the requirements of the Food Armor program," says Dr. Mrdutt.
To demonstrate the implementation of the program, the farm and their Accredited Veterinarian complete a Food Armor certification workbook that outlines their plan for monitoring medication use. This plan includes treatment protocols and standard operating procedures that describe how they will use medications on the farm.
"In addition, there must be a recording plan for any treatments administered, along with a plan for veterinary oversight," says Dr. Mrdutt.
To maintain Food Armor Certified status, farms needs to renew their certification annually, which will include a full review of the HACCP plan for proper medication use with their Food Armor Accredited Veterinarian. At each annual recertification, the Food Armor workbook is submitted to the WVMA for review and approval.
A third party verification process will be used to annually ensure the integrity of the program, states Dr. Mrdutt.
Food Armor is the first of program of its kind, requiring veterinarians and producer teams to work seamlessly to create a HACCP plan that is customized to the farm's management and employee's skills and needs.
This program identifies potential risks (hazards) and provides the know how and action plan to implement safeguards and management practices (critical control points), creating an achievable HACCP plan.
5.7.2015