Washington DC, September 17, 2004 – The Partnership for Food Safety Education, creator of the Fight BAC!® campaign, released a report today detailing American’s food safety awareness and behaviors.

The findings of a national consumer study of nearly 5000 adults – one of the largest consumer food safety studies conducted -- shows that great progress has been made on increasing awareness of safe food handling practices, but more work remains to be done.

"Our research shows that reaching consumers with science-based, practical information has had a dramatic impact on changing basic food handling behaviors for the better," says Tim Hammonds, Chairman of the Partnership for Food Safety Education and President and CEO of the Food Marketing Institute. "As the high awareness levels demonstrate, tremendous progress has been made educating people about the Partnership's "clean, cook, chill and separate" messages. The behavioral data will be used to help us identify areas where we can improve our education efforts related to safe food handling," he continued.

The data reveals that the majority of consumers know that following safe food handling practices is important (92%) and foodborne illness represents a serious health threat (75%). It also reveals there is less familiarity with several recommendations including some related to produce handling. The findings emphasizes three critical needs: 1) ongoing education, reminding consumers about the importance of safe food handling, and specific steps they can take to reduce risk of foodborne illness; 2) ongoing reminders for consumers to take consistent action each and every time they handle food and 3) increased education related to the more specific recommendations. Continued outreach through the media and grass roots food safety advocates such as public health officials, educators and health and nutrition professionals is key to continuing to help Americans understand the specific food safety recommendations.

Key Findings
The research results reinforce the need to increase consumer awareness in order to elicit behavior change. Throughout the data, the higher consumers’ message awareness, the higher the likelihood that they follow the food safety recommendations. The data shows, for example, that 94% of consumers have seen or heard messages regarding the importance of thoroughly washing cutting boards, utensils and countertops with warm water and soap after preparing each food, and 85% of Americans always or usually do as advised. Similarly, 92% of consumers have seen or heard about the importance of separating fresh fruits and vegetables from raw meat and poultry when storing, and 93% of them always or usually do so.

When consumers are unfamiliar with the recommendations, this lack of information can pose a threat. For example, only 57% of consumers are familiar with the recommendation to use a refrigerator thermometer to ensure proper temperatures, and as a result, 47% of consumers always or usually do so.

Consumers are familiar with several messages related to produce handling, but not yet familiar with other important protective steps. Most (85%) say they typically wash fresh fruits and vegetables under cool tap water as recommended, and the majority (75%) wash them just prior to preparing or eating. However, fewer (54%) wash hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds after handling fresh fruits and vegetables, and even fewer (42%) scrub firm produce (i.e. melons) with a clean produce brush. In both cases, only half of the consumers surveyed have seen or heard these produce handling recommendations.

"Fruits and vegetables are a very important part of a healthy diet, and health and nutrition experts agree we should all be eating them more often," says Mildred Cody, Ph.D., RD, Georgia State University and Partnership Board Member. "However, as more fruits and vegetables are consumed, it becomes increasingly important that we continue to remind people about the need to handle them properly."

The research findings are consistent with data released by several of the agencies that work closely with the Partnership including the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Repeatedly, the findings indicate that the more consumers are aware about safe food handling recommendations, the more likely they are to put handle food safely “Reducing foodborne illness is a challenge that requires a commitment from everyone from farm to table,� says Tim Hammonds. “Once the food is in consumers' homes, it is important that it is handled properly all of the time to combat harmful bacteria. Thanks to the Fight BAC!® campaign, consumers, public health officials and educators have all the tools they need at their fingertips to improve their safe food handling practices ; all they need to do is go to fightbac.org."

The Partnership's website has been enhanced to facilitate increased food safety education, creating a repository of food safety research information and an informational News and Tools BAC! Fighters section featuring regularly updated Fight BAC!® educational materials. In addition, the Partnership is developing new tools and resources to continue educating people about the importance of consistently handling food properly. In collaboration with the Produce Marketing Association and the FDA, the Partnership is developing specific recommendations for handling fresh fruits and vegetables to be released later this fall. In addition the Partnership, in cooperation with NSF International, is launching the Scrub Club, a program for young people that emphasizes the importance of proper and frequent handwashing as a critical step to maintain good health. All of these new resources will also be available through fightbac.org.