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U.S. Food and
Drug Administration
FDA Consumer magazine
January-February 2002
Table
of Contents
Every year 76 million Americans experience a foodborne illness; 325,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In response to this public health concern, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Science Teachers Association teamed up to create a first-of-its-kind science program to teach teen-agers about food safety.
The program, dubbed Science and Our Food Supply, is offered free to science educators and is the largest public education program developed to teach middle and high school students about food safety and food science careers. It can be incorporated into biology, life sciences, and other science classes. Teacher guides for middle level and high school educators each contain 16 hands-on experiments and activities presented in five modules:
The modules offer lessons on bacterial growth and how pathogens pose a risk of causing illness; how practices on the farm, such as safe composting, can lead to safer crops; how food processing technologies such as ultra high temperature pasteurization are leading to new products; and how safe food handling practices in restaurants and at home can reduce foodborne illness.
"Since Americans now spend half of their food dollars on food prepared by others like take-out and restaurant meals, it is critical that food eaten outside the home is safely prepared," says Joseph A. Levitt, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).
"Another reason for targeting a food safety program to teens," Levitt says, "is that more high school students are employed in restaurants than any other industry, yet they often begin their jobs with little information about food safety and ways they can prevent foodborne illness."
Science and Our Food Supply offers students hands-on activities based on good scientific methods and laboratory practices. In one experiment, students observe, record and graph bacterial growth in hamburgers that they cook to various temperatures. Another experiment helps students understand the pasteurization process by having them test and compare unpasteurized and pasteurized fruit juice.
To reinforce activities and experiments, the program includes a 46-minute video called Dr. X and the Quest for Food Safety, which recently won an Emmy award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-Atlantic Region in the category of "Outstanding Children's Program/One-time Only Special." The video features a savvy food scientist who leads students on a journey through the food supply chain, exploring behind-the-scenes research in laboratories and profiling scientists in food safety careers. Also included is a Food Safety A to Z Reference Guide with frequently asked questions, fun facts, and tips.
Professional development workshops are available to middle level and high school science educators on how to incorporate Science and Our Food Supply into the curriculum. Teachers also have opportunities to tour FDA research facilities and work with FDA scientists to learn the latest on food science research. One hundred teachers have participated so far and more will be invited to participate this summer. Applications for this program are being accepted until March 1, 2002. More information and an application form are available on the NSTA Web site at www.nsta.org/fda/.
To receive a copy of the Science and Our Food Supply program, teachers can complete a request form on the NSTA Web site at www.nsta.org/professionalinfo/. Teachers can also mail requests to NSTA, Science and Our Food Supply, 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3000, or fax to 1-888-433-0526.
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Web page created by clb
2001-DEC-26.