August 11, 2000

The 2000 National Food Safety Education Month^SM Consumer Education Planning Guide developed by FDA and USDA is now available. Each September, National Food Safety Education Month^SM (NFSEM) highlights the importance of safe food handling and preparation in both home and commercial kitchens. This year's theme, Be Smart. Keep Foods Apart -- Don't Cross-Contaminate focuses on the transfer of harmful bacteria to food from other foods, cutt ing boards, utensils, etc., if they are not handled properly. An example is cutting raw meat or fish on a cutting board and then slicing salad vegetables on the same cutting board without washing it between uses.

While most consumers have developed a good foundation of food safety knowledge, there is still consumer confusion about cross-contamination, confusion that results in increasing the risk of foodborne illness. According to a 1998 FDA/USDA consumer food survey:

• Twenty-one-percent of main meal cooks do not wash their cutting boards after cutting raw meat;
• One quarter of main meal cooks do not wash their hands after handling raw meat and fish and two-thirds do not wash their hands after handling raw eggs; and,
• Sixty-one percent of people who use a cloth or sponge to wipe kitchen counters change them less than seven times per week. Food safety experts advise using paper towels to wipe kitchen surfaces, or if cloths or sponges are used, washing them often in the washing machine's hot cycle.

The 2000 National Food Safety Education Month^SM Consumer Education Planning Guide is a compendium of ideas and tools for organizing food safety education activities for various age groups. A "How To" section offers suggestions for putting them into practice. Some 36,000 copies have already been distributed to health and food safety educators across the nation. All the materials are available on the web at www.FoodSafety.gov. For print copies send a request by fax to FDA's Food Information Fax Line:1-877-FOODFACS (1-877-366-3322).

Progress and Perspective, Food Safety Initiative, FY '99 Annual Report is now available in Spanish. The report provides a snapshot of how FDA is meeting the challenge to ensure a safer food supply. The report explains what is being done and how these efforts are helping to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness. For a print copies send a request by fax to FDA's Food Information Fax Line: 1-877-FOODFACS (1-877-366-3322).

FDA, jointly with USDA and New Zealand's MAF Food Assurance Authority and the Ministry of Health, is conducting a regional food safety conference. The conference will be held on August 15-17, 2000 in Auckland, New Zealand. Senior and mid-level representatives from industry academia and government in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and fourteen Pacific Islands will be participating in the conference.

The conference will be split into six half day session over three days:

1. An overview of food safety initiatives being undertaken in the US;
2. Workshops: Risk Assessment and Exporting Foods to the US;
3. Plenary session looking at further US initiatives;
4. International Trade (MAF Food)--looking at food safety initiatives and New Zealand's response in other regions;
5. New Zealand food production--the regulatory environment
6. New Zealand food production--Introducing the HACCP approach

A meeting summary will be available on CFSAN Web-site (www.cfsan.fda.gov) following the meeting.

Food Safety Initiative Staff E-mail: chammett@cfsan.fda.gov

Office Number: (202) 260-8920 · FAX (202) 260-9653 CFSAN Web site: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/