Archives for April 26, 2015

Franken BAC at Frys Food & Drug Stores (A Kroger Co.)

April 26, 2015

Back in October, the Partnership for Food Safety Education hosted a contest called Franken BAC’s Monster Mash. It was designed to teach kids to fight off microscopic monsters (pathogens) that could be in their food and make them sick.

We were delighted to find out that 119 Frys Food & Drug Stores used the contest to reach 59,000 kids!

We caught up with Norman Barnett, a Food Safety Specialist at Frys Food & Drug Stores to find out more. It turns out, many of the stores had creative ideas on how to add even more fall fun to the contest. They hosted Halloween fun events, set up coloring tables, and even had caramel apple dipping!

We thank Norman and these retail BAC Fighters for reaching so many kids with food poisoning prevention messages!

Western Carolina University Student Takes on Foodborne Illness

April 26, 2015

Senior Research project aims to increase awareness of foodborne illness across Jackson County North Carolina

Katherine J. Eagle, a Senior at Western Carolina University dedicated her Senior Research project to making sure Jackson County, North Carolina Medical Facilities have food safety education materials on display. Her goal: increase awareness of preventing foodborne illness across Jackson County.

Katherine worked with 10 different facilities to find out if they provided food safety educational materials in their waiting rooms. If they didn’t, she provided them with 15 Fight BAC! Basic Brochures. It turns out, many of the facilities were lacking food safety information!

After 7 days, Katherine returned to the facilities to see how many brochures were taken. You can view the results here. She would have loved to spend more time on the project to get a better sense of the patients’ interest in the information.

As Katherine prepares for graduation, she believes a career in food safety is in her future: “Food safety is a great interest of mine, and I am looking into career opportunities in this field upon graduation and my move to San Diego in May.”

Thank you for this work Fighting BAC! ®, Katherine – we’re excited to see what work you’ll do for foodborne illness prevention in the future!

U of Missouri Extension Fights BAC with Backpacks

April 26, 2015

Friday Backpack program reaches 19,400 students weekly

Missouri children are getting the nutrition and food safety information they need thanks to the BAC Fighters at University of Missouri Extension. Creative programs help make sure kids are eating well, living healthy lifestyles, and forming food safety habits with the help of Fight BAC!® materials.

Through their Friday Backpack program, more than 19,000 children statewide receive ready to eat foods from their local food bank every Friday. The University of Missouri Extension supplements the program by providing educational materials like kid-friendly recipe cards, activity sheets, and Fight BAC stickers.

In the Show ME Nutrition Curriculum, 150 Nutrition Educators teach kids from Kindergarten through Junior High the facts on healthy eating and food safety. The educators reach kids in many settings including schools, food stores, and libraries. They extend the learning to parents and caregivers by giving kids newsletters and handouts to take home and share. Healthy eating and food safety go hand in hand for whole health!
Thank you to the BAC Fighters at University of Missouri Extension!

Why Attend the Consumer Food Safety Education Conference?

April 26, 2015

Food Safety Specialist Judy Harrison Says It’s a Conference Like No Other

This is a conference like no other because it specifically targets food safety educators! I have attended every one of these conferences since the 2002 conference in Orlando. The conference is a great way to meet and network with food safety educators nationwide, to learn about trends and issues in food safety, to get information about what other educators are doing in their programs and to get ideas about the direction we need to go in with food safety education.

As a food safety specialist with Cooperative Extension, I always enjoy seeing what other states are doing in food safety education for consumers. The conference is a great venue for sharing strategies and programs that work. It also offers professional development opportunities for those who present their work. The conference is a great way to stay on the cutting edge of food safety education. I look forward to this year’s conference!

Dr. Judy A. Harrison is Professor of Foods and Nutrition and an Extension Foods Specialist at the University of Georgia. Dr. Harrison currently serves on the board of The Partnership for Food Safety Education.

PFSE Staff Spoils BAC’s Summer Plans

April 26, 2015

Community event prepares a squad of junior BAC Fighters for summer

“Do you know what a germ is?”

That’s what we asked kids when they approached the Partnership for Food Safety Education’s table at the Koshland Science Museum on May 10^th, 2014. In “kidspeak” there is no standard definition for germ, but we were still impressed with their answers:

“Something that makes you sick!”

“It makes you throw up!”

“You can stay home from school!”

It was clear that they got the basic concept – germs can make you sick!

What they weren’t so clear on is how a germ can get into your body and make you sick. That’s where we stepped in to explain the basics of hand hygiene and safe food handling.

We showed them just how germy their hands were with a GloGerm demonstration and taught them the basics of clean, separate, cook, and chill using the BAC Drop Spring Story Contest and Perfect Picnic for iOS.

The kids were amazed at the ways a little germ they can’t see, smell, or taste might make sick. They left the event ready (and excited) to Fight BAC! with materials we gave them!

– Ashley Bell, Your B.F.F. (BAC Fighter Friend)