July 15, 2002

Baltimore Middle School Science Teacher Receives Award

EllaJay Parfitt, a middle school science teacher from Baltimore, Maryland, received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Director's Special Citation Award for her outstanding work developing an innovative supplementary curriculum, Science and Our Food Supply, and promoting its use in schools throughout Maryland.

FDA and the National Science Teachers Association created Science and Our Food Supply for middle level and high school science classes relying of the expertise of a select group of classroom teachers. Not only was Ms. Parfitt instrumental in helping to create a program that is inquiry-based and related to the National Science Education Standards, she spoke eloquently about the program at a press conference to launch it in October 2001. Ms. Parfitt developed a creative way to further ensure use of Science and Our Food Supply in the Baltimore City Public School system by developing a model for using the program to meet the Maryland Department of Education's graduation requirements for service learning.

Ms. Parfitt received her award at a ceremony June 14 at the University of Maryland Inn and Conference Center, College Park, Maryland.

Food Safety In Print

Food safety articles have been printed in the following magazines:

American Baby Magazine, May 2001
Better Homes and Gardens, July 2001 and June 2002
Better Nutrition, January 2001, April 2001, June 2001
Child Magazine, May 2001 and July 2001
Family Circle, April 2001
Good Housekeeping, May 2001, July 2001, and July 2002
Natural Health Magazine, March 2001
Newsweek, March 12, 2001 and March 26, 2001
Parenting Magazine, January 2001, April 2001, June/July 2001 and June 2002
Parents Magazine, July 2001
Pregnancy Magazine, June/July 2001
Redbook, May 2001
Time Magazine, February 5, 2001
Total Health, January/February 2001
Weight Watchers, May/June 2002
Woman's Day Magazine, August 2001
Work and Family Life, June 2001
Working Mother, April 2001

In addition to the above magazine articles, over the past 18 months, the Egg Refrigeration and Safe Handling Instructions Rule and the Methylmercury Consumer Advisory have generated newspaper coverage. The information has appeared in 37 major daily newspapers including the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe and Sunday Globe, Denver Rocky Mountain News, Arizona Republic, Kansas City Star, Houston Chronicle and the Miami Herald.

Drop-in Columns are distributed, through the North American Precis Syndicate (NAPS). Over the past 18 months FDA has distributed four of these columns: Egg Safety, Listeria Prevention, Mercury in Fish, and Safe Handling of Produce.

Egg Safety resulted in 276 articles in publications with a potential readership of 25.36 million in 22 states.

Listeria Prevention resulted in 112 articles in publications with a potential readership of 16.28 million in 19 states.

Mercury in Fish resulted in 420 articles in publications with a potential readership of 48.35 million in 29 states.

Safe Handling of Produce resulted in 428 articles in publications with potential readership of 56.07 million in 34 states.