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(Table of Contents)
Getting the Word Out About Keeping Food Safe
Food safety education efforts have reaped dramatic rewards in terms of
improved consumer food safety practices in recent
years, as evidenced by recent government data. According to two recent phone tracking
surveys, for example, the incidence of the risky
practice of eating raw foods was significantly reduced
in 1998 from 1993 numbers _ down 33 percent for pink hamburger, 39 percent for raw oysters
and clams, and 29 percent for raw egg-containing foods. The surveys showed
similarly encouraging improvements in consumer behavior in terms of washing hands and
cutting boards to prevent cross-contamination
between raw and other food.
Positive Change in Consumer Behavior
Consumption of Raw Oysters or Clams |
| down 39% |
Consumption of Pink Hamburger |
| down 33% |
Consumption of Raw Egg-Containing Foods |
| down 29%
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Still, there's a long way to go in educating consumers about preventing foodborne illness.
In an FDA-funded study conducted in FY 2000 by Utah State University, researchers
placed cameras in the kitchens of 100 families and observed them preparing salad ingredients
and following one of three recipes. Among these families, who tended to be confident in their
food safety habits, cooks were "caught on
tape" undercooking meals and making other
food handling mistakes during preparation, such as improper refrigerator storage of raw meat
and seafood and improper or non-existent hand-washing, countertop cleansing, and fruit
and vegetable washing.
The following section highlights some of CFSAN's FY 2000 efforts to educate
consumers and health professionals about their roles
in preventing foodborne illnesses.
- Food Safety Education Campaign Launched for Seniors
"To Your Health! Food Safety for Seniors,"
an education campaign developed by FDA and USDA, became available in FY 2000. A
video and companion print publication inform
senior citizens about foodborne illness. The
materials contain information on eating in and outside
the home and address, among other topics, why some people are at greater risk for
foodborne illness and how to recognize it.
A comprehensive, nationwide distribution is planned for
the materials. Health educators and program leaders
at senior centers, state and county extension offices and
health departments, area offices of aging, and
national organizations representing seniors are using
the materials "to provide preventive health
education to a vulnerable population," says Laura
Fox, CFSAN's manager for the seniors project.
- Food Safety Education at the Grass-Roots
CFSAN, in cooperation with FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs, funded 17 grassroots
food safety education projects proposed by FDA public affairs specialists. The
projects emphasized at least one of the following
themes: populations at severe risk from foodborne
illness (young children, older adults and those
with compromised immune systems); safe handling and preparation of raw shell eggs and
egg dishes; the Fight BAC! campaign materials developed by FDA and the Partnership for
Food Safety Education; or National Food Safety Education Month (September). One particularly
well-received project was Public Affairs Specialist Ruth Weisheit's food safety
training program for Chinese restaurant personnel in
the Cleveland area. According to Howard Seltzer, FDA's National Food Safety Education
Advisor, "Requests have been pouring in" for copies
of the program, which was undertaken in partnership with the Cuyahoga, Ohio, Board
of Health, the Cuyahoga Community College, Chinatown News and a Cleveland-based
food service company.
- Combat Cross-Contamination: National Food Safety Education Month, September 2000
"Be Smart. Keep Foods Apart _ Don't Cross-Contaminate" was the theme for the
sixth annual National Food Safety Education Month, sponsored by the International Food
Safety Council in FY 2000. The theme focused on improper food handling, like cutting raw
meat and then salad vegetables on the same cutting board without washing the cutting board
in between, which can increase the risk of foodborne illness by transferring
harmful bacteria to food. "It's important to focus on
the issue of cross-contamination," says
Howard Seltzer. "It is one of the hardest aspects of
food safety for consumers to control because it
requires their constant attention while preparing meals."
FDA and USDA developed a Consumer Education Planning Guide for the
2000 campaign that collected ideas and tools for organizing food safety education activities
for various age groups, with a "How-To"
section offering suggestions for conducting the activities.
The agencies distributed tens of thousands of copies to health and food safety
educators across the United States and made the
guides available on the federal food safety Web site,
as well.
- Food Safety Web Site Grows by Links and Bounds
The food safety Web site established in early 1999 by the Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition, working closely with the USDA's
Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
grew significantly in FY 2000. The Web site, which
is visited more than 40,000 times each month, had the following new sections and materials
added in FY2000 with the help of Ken Durham,
Special Assistant to the Director of CFSAN's Office
of Constituent Operations: Other Languages section (provides links to all government food safety materials in languages other
than English); Video/Audio Library (provides
food safety video and audio selections that can be viewed on the Web);
Frequently Asked Questions (provides links to more than 500
food safety questions and answers compiled by government agencies);
Food Safety Grants and Requests for
Proposals (provides links to Web sites featuring selected government food
safety grant programs); State Food Safety Web
Sites (contains material from state, local and extension agent Web sites);
Fight BAC! Holiday Toolbox (contains resources to help food
safety educators teach consumers about safe preparation and handling of holiday foods);
and Fight BAC! Spring Toolbox (contains
resources to help food safety professionals and others pursue effective outreach programs and
educate consumers about safe food handling).
- Lose a Million Bacteria: An Interactive Food Safety Game
CFSAN's Food Safety Initiative Staff and the Office
of Constituent Operations produced an interactive game in FY
2000 called "Lose a Million Bacteria,"
modeled after the popular television program "Who
Wants To Be a Millionaire." The object of the game
is to lose a million bacteria by correctly
answering five multiple-choice questions. Besides
the interactive on-line game, five different
printer-friendly versions were designed for use in classrooms and at meetings.
- Science Teachers Learn Food Safety Lessons
Fifty teachers from across the United States took advantage of a food safety program
co-sponsored last summer by FDA and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).
The professional development program, held in Washington, D.C., prepared the participants
to teach food science lessons to their students using the supplementary FDA-NSTA
curriculum "Science and Our Food Supply." The
program was offered in two six-day sessions, one for middle school teachers and the other for
high school teachers. The 50 participants were selected from more than 150 applicants,
and represented 18 states and U.S. territories.
The course will be held again in 2001. Teachers who take the course agree to
provide similar training to other teachers in their
states during the following school year.
"The program prepares children for
life-long safe food handling practices at home and also
at food service operations, where more than half
of teenagers work at some point," says
Marjorie Davidson, Ph.D., FDA's National Food
Safety Education Officer. "It's gratifying to think
about the exponential impact this program could have.
Think about how many students will learn about food science and food safety, as 50
teachers each year take what they have learned back
not just to their own students, but to other
teachers, as well."
Says Wendell Mohling, Ph.D., NSTA's Associate Executive Director of Conventions
and Professional Programs, "Our goal is to
engage kids in learning science, and this topic
lends itself very well to that, allowing students to
learn science in a meaningful way. We bring the educators who, in turn, can take this
information and deliver it in their classrooms. And we
take advantage of FDA's scientists and cutting
edge information to keep science teachers
up-to-date on what is going on in the field of food science."
- Game Plan for Keeping Food Safe
A new Grade 4 through 6 education kit titled "Your Game Plan for Food Safety," developed
by FDA and the other members of the Partnership for Food Safety Education, became available
in late 1999. The school-based program, which is free to teachers, cooperative extension
agents, and others who educate students in these
age groups, educates youngsters and their families about food safety and includes a teachers'
guide and video, colorful classroom posters, a checklist for home food safety, and many
other activities and experiments.
- Food Safety Video Wins International Award
For its video BAC Attack! How Our School Fought BAC for Food
Safety, the Partnership for Food Safety Education received a "Gold
Camera Award" in June 2000. The video, part of
the partnership's supplementary food safety curriculum for students in grades 4 through
6, was chosen from over 1,600 entries from 30 countries. The award was sponsored by
the U.S. International Film and Video Festival, a world-renowned competition for
business, television, documentary, industrial and information productions.
Says Laura Fox of FDA's Food Safety Initiative Staff, who acted as advisor for
the script production: "We appreciate the
recognition for this video, which manages to weave
critical food safety lessons into a story line to
capture kids' attention."
The Fight BAC! character popped up across the country in FY 2000 to spread the
message on food safety. For example, in March, BAC! made a
guest appearance in Buffalo, N.Y. at Pfizer Inc.'s traveling
Microbe Education Show. The BAC! costume character greeted
show visitors, and the Fight BAC! exhibit provided food safety
educational materials.
- Physicians' Foodborne Illness Primer
To help primary care doctors and other health professionals recognize, diagnose
and treat foodborne illness, FDA in FY 2000 worked with the American Medical Association
(AMA), CDC and the USDA to complete a physician/patient information kit called "Diagnosis
and Management of Foodborne Illness: A Primer for Physicians" for dissemination in early 2001.
"While many foodborne illnesses, such as typhoid and cholera, have faded, new and
re-emerging ones have taken their place,"
said AMA Trustee J. Edward Hill, M.D., at the primer's release. "We didn't even
know Cyclospora, resistant
Salmonella, and some strains of E.
coli existed when many of today's practicing physicians were in medical school.
Physicians are now hungry for good information on recognizing and treating
food-related diseases. This information kit gives them
the information they want and need."
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