CATHY PROVIDES FOOD SAFETY TRAINING IN NEW JERSEY

December 21, 2017

Cathy John, a certified food safety professional with Keeping Food Safe, Inc., is very active in her New Jersey community, offering food safety training and consulting services. Cathy hosted a presentation at the James F. McGuire Memorial Senior Citizen Center in Northvale to promote National Food Safety Education Month.

She spoke to the seniors about the importance of proper safe food handling to keep them healthy. The seniors were actively engaged and asked questions about what steps they should take to prevent cross-contamination that can lead to foodborne illness. The presentation highlighted the importance of the four core principles – Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill.

Cathy has worked in the food service industry for over 15 years and recognizes the vital need for food safety training and education. She aims to empower food service employees to make the right choices that will protect the health and safety of consumers, while maintaining food safety standards within the business.

“No food service business is too small to have a food safety plan in place as it protects the business and consumer,” Cathy said.

Way to go, Cathy! Thank you for helping to keep our food safe!

Seniors in Michigan Focus on Food Safety

September 25, 2017

In July, Eileen Haraminac, MS, an extension educator with Michigan State University, responded to the Partnership for Food Safety Education’s offer to BAC Fighters for a Don’t Wing It health fair kit. The kits were mailed out in late August.

Eileen put the kit into action when she partnered with the Macomb County (MI) Community Action Group – Macomb Food Program at one of their food distribution sites – the Centerline Towers Senior Apartments. They brought in the mobile food pantry to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, bread and other items for the residents.

The event brought out 75 seniors. As the seniors waited in line for the distribution, Eileen gathered them in small groups of 10 to discuss the Don’t Wing It brochure and to have short conversations about the use of the plastic bags at the meat counter. Eileen talked with the seniors about the poultry handling messages and the recipes from Don’t Wing It. She reports that most of the seniors were unaware of the spread of bacteria from rinsing poultry, and she thinks that it was effective to talk with them about the importance of safe minimum temperatures to kill bacteria.

Don’t Wing It Is a Hit with Older Americans

June 1, 2017

BAC Fighter Jennifer Jackson is with the Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and Disabilities in Annapolis, Maryland. She told us, “We have a lot of fun speaking to people about food safety, and this new Don’t Wing It campaign really helped us inform them about how to practice food safety from store to table.”

Informative Fun for Older Americans Month

Jennifer and colleagues celebrated Older Americans Month in May with a fun and informative health fair booth featuring Don’t Wing It tips and guidelines. They estimate they reached about 350 people during the event.

Ask Me About My Skittles…

A display board presented the Don’t Wing It tips for the safe purchase and preparation of poultry. It also included a “Skittles” visual showing how quickly bacteria multiply when in the danger zone.

Cross-Contamination “Show and Tell”

At another station, using a package of chicken from the local grocery store, Jennifer and colleagues demonstrated how to use bags to prevent cross-contamination while shopping. This demo generated lots of questions about the proper use of the bags when handling poultry.

Heating Up Cookouts: Using a Food Thermometer

At the cookout station, Department of Aging staff demonstrated how to properly use a food thermometer while preparing food on their mini-grill. This demo received lots of positive feedback and inquiries about where to purchase a food thermometer.

Wash Hands, Not Poultry!

Many people were surprised about the recommendation to not wash poultry. Jennifer and her team talked with some older adults who were adamant about washing their chicken, but they were able to convince at least a few to change their practices after sharing Don’t Wing It information. Jennifer said, “I spoke with one lady who has been washing her chicken for over 30 years. After explaining to her the risks involved with washing poultry, she made a vow to stop washing chicken that day. She also took information for her daughter, who also washes her chicken.”

Remember This Chick?

Chelsea the Chicken was also in attendance, sunbathing at the top of the tent!

Jennifer shared: “We love all of the resources your organization provides and look forward to your next campaign!”

Betty’s Deviance Inspires Community Food Safety

March 29, 2017

Betty Yaohua Feng, is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. She presented two sessions related to Positive Deviance at CFSEC2017.

Her research investigates the effectiveness of positive deviance interventions on changing consumers’ safe food handling attitudes and behaviors.

For those unfamiliar with the theory, Positive Deviance is based on the observation that, in every community, there are certain individuals whose uncommon practices (in this case- correct food safety behaviors) enable them to find better solutions to problems than their neighbors or colleagues, despite having access to the same resources.

The goals are to identifying best practices on how to reach these individuals and then to work with these “Positive Deviants” to promote food safety in a community or group.

Betty shares a story from her research:

A few years ago, I piloted the Positive Deviance approach in classes with several different groups of people with diabetes. The classes covered the importance of food safety in diabetes. “Doreen,” one of the group members, was a 62-year-old woman with Type-2 Diabetes. She had never heard that having diabetes put you at higher risk for food borne illness. This was important news to her.

She attended all of the three group sessions offered. Doreen shared that before she came to the classes, she never realized that she should wash the apples she brought home from the supermarket before eating them. She was surprised to learn that. Doreen said, “They are so shiny and I only buy from big chains, so I assumed they were clean and ready to eat. I didn’t know they needed to be washed.”

Before and after the series, we gave food safety knowledge pre- and post- tests, and Doreen did very well with the post-test. Before the last session, she asked if I would like to go to her church and present food safety information to her friends and family and community members. This was very encouraging to me, as an educator. It is unlikely that before she attended the classes she would have invited a food safety expert to present information to her local congregation.

Doreen’s positive deviance was influencing her community!

Fighting BAC with Clean, Reusable Bags

September 22, 2016

Lynn Nakamura-Tengan is an Extension Educator at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Lynn and her team at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources developed and disseminated information on Germ-free Reusable Bags (GRUB) through the Nutrition Education for Wellness website, Hawaii county website, National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences national meeting, workshops, and various community events. Download the flyer here: www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/new/resources/grub_flyer.pdf

Lynn shares the story of “Jan” and how she changed her reusable bags practices after learning about GRUB.

Reusable Bags are Handy for This Volunteer

Jan is an active 72-year-old retired teacher and a volunteer with church and senior groups. She frequently uses her reusable grocery bags to make purchases for her church and for older adults needing assistance with food shopping.

Hot Van + Dirty Bags = Potential Food Safety Risk

Jan kept a handy collection of reusable bags in the back of her van. Her concerns were about the bags tearing and getting worn. She never thought about the food safety risks of cross-contamination when she reused her bags.

Jan saw the GRUB (Germ-free Re-Usable Bags) handout at a supermarket exhibit featuring healthy lifestyles. The display included information about keeping grocery bags clean to prevent cross- contamination. The handout information resonated with Jan and her desire to keep the older adults she serves healthy and safe.

Clean Bags- Help Keep Food Safe

Jan now washes her reusable grocery bags after each use, ready for the next time she’s out shopping.

Lynn says, “We help people understand simple steps to keep their food safe and be confident they are doing their best for their family and friends”.

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