FST’s Erin DiCaprio and Linda J. Harris held the Better Process Control School (BPCS) February 14-17th, 2023 for a class of 75 industry (including small business) and regulatory personnel.  Linda was the course coordinator from 2017 to 2022 (taking over from Diane Barrett in 2017); Erin is the current course coordinator.

The BPCS provides training to help assure the safety and quality of shelf-stable heat-processed low-acid and acidified foods such as salsas, pickled products, soups, broths, and pet food. UC Davis offers a four-day course for operators, supervisors, auditors, academics, and government personnel who work with shelf-stable heat-processed low-acid and acidified low-acid foods regulated by FDA or USDA.

Linda has provided lectures on food safety microbiology and sanitation at the BPCS since 1996, the year she first took the course, and Erin DiCaprio since 2017, when she was enrolled as well. Mark Deniston, Research Associate at the UC Laboratory for Research in Food Preservation, has presented at the BPCS for 37 years, first enrolling in the course in 1983 as a graduate student in food process engineering. Kurt Wiese spent his career as a principal scientist and a process authority for retorting and aseptic at Nestle’s, the National Food Processors Association (which became the Consumer Brands Association), and the National Food Lab, and now works at NASA.  He’s taught at the BPCS since 1995 and first took it in 1986. 

The course has been given by UC Davis since 1974, skipping only 2021-2022 due to the CoVID-19 pandemic.