CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) will be hosting an Acidified-Only Better Process Control School (BPCS) February 21-22, 2022 at Cedar Lakes Conference Center. BPCS is a course that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as well as the United States Department of Agriculture for processors of acidified and low acid canned foods. There is a $50.00 registration fee for the school, and space is limited and will be on a first-come-first serve basis to the first 40 students.

“Better Process Control School is required for any business looking to scale up their operations and sell acidified foods in a retail setting. Typically, these types of courses are held only a few times throughout the year, so we encourage those who are interested to sign up for this opportunity,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt.

An acidified food (AF) is a low-acid food to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added and which has a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below and a water activity (aw) greater than 0.85. The school will be taught by Dr. Joseph E. Marcy, department head of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Registration will close on, Friday, February 4 at 4 p.m. You can sign up at: https://agriculture.wv.gov/events/better-process-control-school-2/

Funds for this project were awarded to the WVDA through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service, 2019 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. 

For questions related specifically to the BPCS, please contact Leslie Boggess at lboggess@wvda.us or 304-558-2210.