2026 Basic Inspector Boot Camp — Manufactured Technical Training
Start January 21, 2026
Virtual / Live
About
Sessions cover both power skills and technical skills, using interactive strategies with participants. Technical skills are split into days of training specifically for retail-level inspectors (restaurants, grocery stores, etc.) and a separate day for manufactured-level inspectors (food processing facilities). AFDO’s goal in this training is to help state and local regulators gain free access to valuable training early in their food safety careers in order to build knowledge and experience.
What to expect when you’re inspecting – Manufactured Foods: Identify, describe, and summarize the key steps in conducting a manufactured food inspection, from preparation through close-out.
Effective Inspection Interviews: Conduct more effective inspection interviews.
Risk-Based Preventive Controls Inspections: Leverage evidence to support the writing of accurate, valid inspection reports.
Who Should Attend
Manufactured food inspectors with less than two years of on-the-job experience
Courtney Pierson is District Manager for the manufactured foods team with Kansas Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Lodging program. With nearly 20 years of experience in human and animal food industries, she has served in her current role for seven years.
Mark Meier
Kansas Department of Agriculture
Mark Meier is a Food, Drug, and Lodging Surveyor with Kansas for four years, specializing in Manufactured Foods and Produce Farm Inspections. He conducts Hazard Analyses and inspections under State and Federal jurisdictions, focusing on Limited Scope and Preventive Controls inspections for FDA. He brings 15 years of prior retail food operations experience.
James Chan
California Department of Public Health
James Chan is Chief of the Improvement and Development Unit for California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch. With over 20 years in manufactured food safety, he manages specialists developing training, inspection, enforcement, and auditing standards. He focuses on maximizing public health protection through technology optimization and believes strongly in succession planning.
Matthew Noonan
Matthew Noonan is an FDA Compliance Officer and Subject Matter Expert for PCHF in CFSAN's Division of Enforcement. He follows up on violative inspections and pursues corrective actions. Previously a Compliance Officer and Field Investigator in ORA, he's a PCHF Lead Instructor through FSPCA and adjunct professor at Temple University's Regulatory Affairs program.
Lillian Hsu
US Food and Drug Administration
Lillian Hsu is a National Food Expert with FDA's Office of Inspections and Investigations for nearly 13 years, specializing in Preventive Controls for Human Food and Seafood HACCP. She conducts staff training, represents field staff in policy efforts, participates in international partnerships, and performs global inspections. She holds a Ph.D. in Food Science from Cornell.
This training program is supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of financial assistance award number U01FD008398, totaling $3,425,000, with 100 percent funded by FDA/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by FDA/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
Got membership questions? Learn more at afdo.org/join!
The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) is a regulatory organization that connects food and medical-products safety stakeholders and impacts the regulatory environment by shaping sound, science-based rules, law, regulations, and sharing best practices that protect public health.
