Intertek Alchemy Provides Bird Flu Training Course to Food Industry

Complimentary Course Can Help Poultry, Egg, and Dairy Operations Protect Workers and Businesses

AUSTIN, TX, UNITED STATES, April 9, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Intertek Alchemy, a global leader in food safety and workplace safety training solutions, is providing a cost-free essential bird flu training course to any operation that could benefit. The course, titled “Avian Influenza (Bird Flu): Overview,” is designed to educate frontline workers to understand the risks, recognize potential threats and symptoms, and provide steps organizations and employees can take to contain the virus.

The current outbreak of avian influenza (H5N1), commonly known as “bird flu,” is wreaking economic havoc in the food industry. Poultry farmers, egg producers, and dairy farmers are at the greatest risk, though the products they supply are used as ingredients for countless food manufacturers, causing ripple effects throughout the food industry. The industry is desperate for relief, and all assistance in preventing the spread of bird flu has been highly welcomed.

According to data published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the current bird flu outbreak has cost the U.S. poultry industry alone $1.4 billion*, a large portion due to infected flocks being culled. Infected cattle do not need to be culled, but their milk production can be diminished by as much as 20% for up to three weeks**, according to the American Association of Bovine Practitioners. Consumers feel the impact in rising food costs, including a USDA-estimated 57.6% increase in the price of eggs in 2025***.

While human cases of avian influenza are rare — the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention cites 70 human cases and one death in the U.S. since 2024**** — the risk is highest for poultry and dairy workers, and many scientists fear transmissions to humans are bound to increase.

It is amidst this backdrop that Intertek Alchemy chose to make its avian influenza training course for food production workers available to any organization (or individual) at no cost. Typically, a company must be an Intertek Alchemy client licensing the Alchemy Training System to access any of the hundreds of training courses in its library. However, this 12-minute training course — available in English, Spanish, and Canadian French — can be downloaded by anyone at: www.alchemysystems.com/content/bird-flu-training-course.

“We are proud we can do our part to help protect the global food supply chain, the overall economy, and human health,” said Ali Knapp, President of Intertek Alchemy. “Our courseware development team is the best in class, and this course will benefit not only the companies that use it, but also the workers who staff the front lines with the risk of this virus every day.”

This is not the first time Intertek Alchemy has made its award-winning training available to non-clients at no cost. In March 2020, Intertek Alchemy sprang into action and quickly created a COVID-19 overview course for manufacturing companies to train employees to mitigate risk. Making this and other courses freely available to curb the spread of infection led to nearly 50,000 course downloads. This was in addition to over half a million course-takes of COVID prevention courses by Alchemy clients within the Alchemy Training System.

“Our reach within the food processing and manufacturing industries — with the Alchemy platform in use at over 7,000 facilities — enables us to make an immediate, positive impact on workforce and product safety,” continued Knapp. “In difficult times like these, making specialized training content available to the entire industry at no cost is aligned with our company core value to ‘always do the right thing.’”

*https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/12/31/2024-31384/payment-of-indemnity-and-compensation-for-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza
**https://www.bovinevetonline.com/news/industry/mystery-illness-now-affecting-dairy-cows-texas-new-mexico-industry-searches-answers
***https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook/summary-findings
****https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html



About Intertek Alchemy
Intertek Alchemy has been protecting frontline workers and consumers for nearly 20 years with training solutions for processors, manufacturers, packagers, and distributors of all sizes. Because we believe people make the difference, our innovative technologies and services help ensure the everyday actions made by frontline workers have a valuable impact on food safety, workplace safety, quality, and productivity. Partner with us today to protect your workforce and consumers by bringing safety culture to life, ensuring high-quality products, and optimizing operations.

www.IntertekAlchemy.com



About Intertek
Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide.
Our network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in more than 100 countries, delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for our customers' operations and supply chains.
Intertek is a purpose-led company to Bring Quality, Safety and Sustainability to Life. We provide 24/7 mission-critical quality assurance solutions to our clients to ensure that they can operate with well-functioning supply chains in each of their operations.
Our Customer Promise is: Intertek Total Quality Assurance expertise, delivered consistently, with precision, pace and passion, enabling our customers to power ahead safely.

www.intertek.com

Dante Dominick
Intertek Alchemy
512-648-9189
dante.dominick@alchemysystems.com
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