USPOULTRY hosted its inaugural Public Health Information System (PHIS) Workshop on April 17. Developed in partnership with the Food Safety Advisory Committee, the workshop assisted attendees with navigating the PHIS interface and appropriately responding to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) noncompliance records. Corporate and plant personnel from the broiler and duck industry were represented at the meeting, as PHIS allows for various scopes of access.

The PHIS site contains information about processing facilities that can be particularly useful in supporting an overall food safety program. However, navigating the interface, downloading needed data, and interacting with noncompliance records (NRs) and memorandum of interviews (MOIs) takes time. Attendees learned how to ensure that the information contained in PHIS is accurate, as well as were able to assign responsibilities and track public health regulations (PHRs). The reporting capabilities of PHIS were also explored to become proficient in generating reports that can inform daily and strategic goals.

Responding to official communication within PHIS was another aspect that was addressed, including accessing and responding to NRs and MOIs, monitoring relevant regulations cited and appealing inaccuracies. Further, the interaction among the participants allowed for the opportunity to discuss real-world cases.

Since providing a primer on effective use of PHIS, additional programming focused on the effective use of this tool will be forthcoming, incorporating feedback from attendees as well as the Food Safety Advisory Committee. More information on upcoming workshops and seminars can be found on the USPOULTRY website.