Partnership for Food Safety Education

FightBAC!

  • Food Safety Basics
    • The Core Four Practices
    • Featured Resources
  • Food Poisoning
    • About Foodborne Illness
    • Foodborne Pathogens
    • Causes & Symptoms
    • Food Safety Glossary
  • Food Safety Education
    • Safe Recipe Style Guide
    • Don’t Wing It
    • The Story of Your Dinner
    • Safe Produce
    • Recall Basics
    • Food Safety Mythbusters
    • Go 40 or Below
    • Safe Microwaving
    • Safety in All Seasons
  • Hands On
    • Getting Started
    • Download Hands On
    • FAQs
    • Locations
    • Testimonials
    • Support Hands On
  • For Kids
    • Babies & Toddlers
    • Child Care Training
    • Curricula & Programs
    • Kids Games & Activities
    • School Lunches
  • Safe Recipes
    • Safe Recipe Activity for Middle School
    • Appetizers
    • Side Dishes
    • Entrees
    • Desserts
  • Free Resources
    • Download Center
    • Coronavirus Resources
    • Recorded Webinars
    • Videos
    • Recursos en español
    • Evaluation Toolkit
    • Safe Recipe Style Guide
    • World Food Safety Day
  • About Us
    • Partnership & History
    • Board of Directors
    • Who Is Involved
    • PFSE Team
    • Brand Assets
    • Jobs
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • How to Fight BAC
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • 2021 Conference
    • 2021 Abstract Submission
  • Blog

Lisa’s Table Is All About Safe Dinners

April 3, 2020

Meet Lisa

Lisa Treiber is a dedicated BAC Fighter who is passionate about keeping her community safe. She is an Extension Agent at Michigan State University, and she regularly uses Fight BAC resources in her curriculum.

Lisa values raising awareness around safe food handling practices. Throughout the semester she teaches courses that remind students how to stay healthy. She also shares The Story of Your Dinner resources — particularly around the holiday season. She has done this for many years and has noticed that her community responds positively to it.

Lisa’s Table Spreads Awareness for the Holidays

This past holiday season, Lisa dedicated a table to food safety in the atrium of the Midland County Building Department. She blew up food safety tips from The Story of Your Dinner and made them into laminated tiles. The tiles were arranged to be easily read by anyone who passes through the building. Lisa is thankful for the clear messages on each tile like “Suds up for 20 seconds” and “Keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below.”

Lisa went a step further and printed off recipes with food safety steps and left them on the table. She worked hard to emphasize the importance of food safety during the holiday season, and it was well received by her peers and community. She was pleasantly surprised to see over 50 recipes had been taken from the table by the diverse population that walks through the building.

Years of Community Engagement at the Table

This isn’t the first year Lisa has created a table display. A couple years ago, she increased community engagement by holding a drawing for those who stopped at the table. Over 75 people entered and the winner received a fridge thermometer to ensure their fridge was at a food-safe temperature. The county health department sanitarian workers who approved the display said that it was “wonderful”.

Lisa feels that with the number of those who have responded each year, she is getting her message across and doing her part in spreading awareness to her community. She appreciates that the resources from the Partnership for Food Safety Education are diverse and can be easily tweaked to be used throughout the entire year.

Lisa Treiber is an Extension Agent at Michigan State University. She can be reached at treiber@msu.edu.

You can make sure families have the safe food handling information that they need to reduce their risk of food poisoning with a personal contribution today. Click here to make a gift.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: BAC Fighter, Fight BAC, Food handling, food poisoning, food safety, Food safety resources, Food safety teacher, foodborne illness, prevent foodborne illness, recipes

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!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: BAC Fighter, Fight BAC, Food handling, food safety, Food safety education, Food Safety Education Month, foodborne illness, National Food Safety Education Month, New Jersey, older people, prevent foodborne illness, seniors

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

 

 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

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

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Next Page »

Copyright © 2021 · Partnership for Food Safety Education

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Linkedin
Instagram
Youtube
Youtube
Envelope