Association of Food and Drug Officials

Association of Food and Drug Officials

Many perspectives, one voice, since 1896.

2026 Basic Inspector Boot Camp — Soft Skills & Universal Training Topics

Start January 14, 2026

Virtual / Live

About

Inspector Boot Camp

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.

Objectives

The Art of the First Impression: Nail your first impression, apply confident communication techniques, and build instant rapport during food inspections, so kitchens listen, learn, and love seeing you walk in.

Pest Control in Food Facilities: Understand the components of an effective pest management program.

De-Escalation During Food Inspections: De-escalate conflict and potential violence using practical strategies.

Who Should Attend

Retail and Manufactured food inspectors with TWO YEARS OR LESS on-the-job experience 

Location

This virtual training is one of 3 Basic Inspector Boot Camps. The others take place on January 21, 2026 and January 28, 2026.

Travel

Course Length

4 hours

Seat Limit

1000 spots available

Who You Will Learn From

Dr. Matthew Fry
Dr. Matthew Fry
Cornell University
Dr. Matt Frye is a Senior Extension Associate with the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program at Cornell University, where he provides education and conducts research related to pest management in and around buildings.
Singer, Nancy
Nancy Singer
Compliance-Alliance LLC
Nancy Singer, JD, LLM, RAC, FRAPS founded Compliance-Alliance LLC specializing in regulated industry professional development. An adjunct professor at USC and former Special Counsel for AdvaMed, she's taught FDA staff colleges for years. She received VP Gore's Hammer Award and FDA Commissioner's Citation, and retired as Navy Reserve Commander.
All attendees will earn CEU credits during this training!
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? Go to afdo.org/join to learn more!

For questions, contact Autumn Schuck at aschuck@afdo.org.

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AFDO

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.