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From Low-Riding to High-Achieving “Jeremy”— A Food Safety Success Story

June 6, 2016

BAC Fighter Jean Bridges of Memphis sent us this inspiring story of her employee, “Jeremy.”

In June of Jean Bridges, Executive Director, We Fight BAC, Inc. 2014, her organization started its’ USDA Summer Food Service Program, serving a free nutritious lunch and snack to more than 2,000 kids a day. They needed to hire and train staff on safe food handling and preparation.

Many “Pluses”

Seventeen year old “Jeremy” was working at a fast food establishment when he came to apply for a food service position. During his interview, he successfully answered all of the food safety questions. He was hired on the spot. Jeremy was an ideal employee in many ways: he arrived at the food preparation site on time and ready to work. During his first week, Jean observed him to be good-natured, motivated, hardworking, and willing to help co-workers.

But Too Many Food Safety “Minuses”

But Jean also observed and addressed some downsides to Jeremy’s habits:

She constantly had to remind him to watch out for cross-contamination.  Jeremy was recovering from a cold and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. He would pull up his pants, and have to be reminded to wash his hands and put on new gloves.  He was a cigarette smoker and had to be reminded to wash his hands after a restroom or smoke break. Jean seemed to be constantly asking him to go wash his hands.

Jeremy Had to Go

Jean discussed Jeremy’s work performance regarding food safety with her board of directors. It was a tough decision, since he was a good worker, but his performance did not meet the program’s high food safety standards. Jeremy was terminated.

News traveled fast to Jeremy’s co-workers. They were devastated! To help keep morale high, Jean scheduled a food safety training class the following Saturday for the staff, and Jeremy was invited to attend.  The class reviewed safe food handling best practices and the potential results of poor food handling, especially since the  underserved kids in their program were especially at risk for food borne illness. The class stressed that it was the personal responsibility of each worker to ensure food safety and made it clear that staff must not only learn but put into practice what they learn!

Jean summed up the lesson: Poor food safety practices could result in the death of a hungry child, grateful for a meal!

Jeremy Rides Again!

This time, the teaching “sunk in” for Jeremy.  With tears in his eyes he apologized and pleaded for a second chance. Jeremy was given another chance to contribute his efforts to the successful and food safe child feeding program.

Where’s My Boy?

Near the end of the summer program, Jean met Jeremy’s mother. She yelled from across the street “Ms. Jean I need to talk to you!” She was clearly excited. She asked, “What did you do to my boy?” She told Jean that since working with food program Jeremy had become more conscientious when cleaning, handling food, and cooking. He was even careful to put raw meat and lettuce on separate shelves in the refrigerator to prevent cross-contamination.  “He now cleans up after cooking.  I even caught him peeking around the corner to see if I washed my hands before getting a beverage out the refrigerator,” she said. “He’s going overboard. What did you do, where’s my boy?”

Now Jeremy’s the Teacher

Markova Reed of CBS Channel 3 Memphis and host of the show “Bright Spot”, heard about the success of the program.  She contacted Jean for an interview. Ms. Reed was particularly interested in the program’s emphasis on food safety. The cameraman asked how they managed to keep all eight sites clean, and  a worker responded “we try and prevent foodborne illnesses.” Then Jeremy chimed in:  “We told the kids to say please and thank you and they had to use the hand sanitizer placed on the table, and discard empty bags in the trash after they finished their lunch.”

Food Safety Success

Jean sums up her experience, “This has led to my becoming an avid BAC Fighter, modifying our focus and organization name to “We Fight BAC, Inc.”  That’s my success story!”

Jean Bridges, MPA, MBA, MPM
Executive Director, We Fight BAC, Inc.
P.O. Box 750784, Memphis, TN 38175

 

 

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: BAC Fighter, Fight BAC, food programs, food safety, Food safety education, foodborne illness, Memphis, prevent foodborne illness, restaurant food safety, Tennessee, We Fight BAC

The Poo Fighters Rock Food Safety Training in Minnesota

April 4, 2016

Great! Unique way to present info!

Fun and kept my attention for the whole time!

Very entertaining as well as informational.

I teach food safety/cooking classes at the center for independent living and this will be very helpful. 

These raves were for the Minnesota Departpoo fighter brochure coverment of Health’s Poo Fighters 2015 food safety multi-state sold-out “tour”.

The department’s Sarah Leach used the clever Poo Fighters Band Tour theme to weave together training modules for instructors of certified food manager courses:

*The Band – human and economic burden, pathogen biology, symptoms, treatment

* Event Staff – foodborne illness risk factors, person in charge/certified food manager  roles

* Poo Fighters Diarrhea & Vomit Tour – foodborne illness hotline, number of outbreaks

* Classic Hits – historic or well-known outbreaks

* New Releases – recent outbreaks

* Summary, Q & A – review and extend learning, self-correct and discuss quiz

Attendees acquired resources and skills for educating colleagues and the public on the topics of foodborne illness reporting and investigation in Minnesota. Sessions improved knowledge of foodborne illness and dispelled myths about transmission. The presentations used real-life examples from familiar settings to bring scientific facts and regulatory requirements to life.

Sarah LeachSarah Leach is the creator and “band” promoter of the “Poo Fighters” Tour. She is also a Registered Environmental Health Specialist/Registered Sanitarian, and the Principal State Food Manager Certification Program Coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Health. Want to learn more about doing a band tour in your community? Contact Sarah at Sarah.Leach@state.mn.us

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: BAC Fighter, Fight BAC, foodborne illness, Minnesota, prevent foodborne illness

Culinary Arts Students Make Food Safety Visit to Elementary School

August 22, 2015

Caldwell_County

Culinary Arts students at the Caldwell County Area Technology Center in Kentucky brought valuable food safety messages to younger kids at Caldwell County Elementary and Primary Schools.

In just a few days, kids learned all about handwashing, food temperatures and the “Danger Zone”, kitchen safety, food borne illnesses, and how to use color-coded cutting boards. The kids loved seeing the germs on their hands using the Glo-Germ kits and trying on hairnets provided by a nearby ConAgra Foods.

Thanks to these lessons, the kids are ready to Fight BAC! against foodborne illness.

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: food safety, Food safety education, foodborne illness, Kentucky, prevent foodborne illness

Personal stories motivate farm workers to follow food safety rules

June 26, 2015

California_Leafy_Greens

The California Leafy Green Handler Marketing Board (LGMA)  brings farmers together to ensure the safety of leafy greens.

The organization recently released both a new food safety training program for workers throughout the California leafy greens farming community and a new video project designed to communicate how important proper training can be to producing safe food.

The video was produced as a joint effort between the LGMA and STOP Foodborne Illness as a training tool. It uses the stories of people affectedby foodborne illness as motivation for workers to always practice proper food handling and is currently being used as part of the LGMA Tech training workshops.

You can check out the training video here:  http://youtu.be/AE9G818uJsQ

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: California, California Leafy Green Handler Marketing Board, food safety, Food safety education, Food safety training, foodborne illness, STOP Foodborne Illness

Food Safety Prep from a Maryland BAC Fighter

June 26, 2015

Natasha M. Shamone-Gilmore is a BAC Fighter and the Co-Founder/Executive Director of the Maryland Resource and Training Center, a nonprofit organization. They focus on strengthening communities by providing wraparound social services and programs to individuals and families based on the four pillars of civic learning and engagement, youth empowerment, leadership, and economic independence.

Part of their service includes a food safety prep class where Natasha teaches students about proper food temperatures, parasites and contaminants. She also helps get them ready for their certified professional food manager exams.

Thanks Natasha for getting future Maryland food managers prepped on food safety!

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: BAC Fighter, Fight BAC, Food handling, food safety, Food safety education, foodborne illness, Maryland

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