Archives for February 26, 2015

Eat Smart, Move More…and Fight BAC! ®

February 26, 2015

Harmful BAC (bacteria) that can be in food isn’t part of anyone’s plan for a healthy body.

Virginia’s Family Nutrition Program is working to make sure BAC stays off the menu for the state’s limited – resource families. They are Fighting BAC!® every day with food safety as a required component of all FNP curricula. Teaching safe food handling is one way the FNP is teaching limited-resource families and youth how to make smart food choices. Participants are expected to demonstrate acceptable food safety practices upon completion of the program.

What’s next on the FNP agenda? Preparing to Fight BAC!® for the upcoming school year! Nutrition Outreach Instructors use food safety print materials from The Partnership for Food Safety Education to create fun and interactive kits for the Smart Food Safety portion of their 3^rd-7^th grade curriculum, Healthy Weights for Healthy Kids. BAC won’t stand a chance against these healthy kids!

The VA Family Nutrition Program strives to teach limited-resource families and youth to make healthier food choices and become better managers of available food resources for optimal health and growth. Check out their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/VaFNP.

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

February 26, 2015

Rub a dub scrub: Pennsylvania’s Get Smart Drawing Competition Fights BAC! ® that could be on hands.

Kids’ hands are a favorite hiding place for harmful bacteria. It’s no surprise that many foodborne disease outbreaks start with contaminated hands. For kids, germs are out of sight and out of mind. They don’t think about invisible pathogens lurking on their hands before they put their fingers in their mouths, pick up a sandwich, or pass toys to classmates.

BAC Fighter Natalie Mueller of Pennsylvania’s Get Smart program has come up with a contest to make the importance of handwashing memorable to kids across the state. This Fall, kids will be asked to draw a picture that illustrates why it’s important to wash their hands.

Prompting kids to visualize germs on their hands will shed light on just why they are supposed to wash their hands. Kids can be as creative as they want; drawing germ-battling heroes or simply drawing everything they touched in day. A picture is worth a thousand words – especially a picture of all of the scary germs that might be on your hands! That’s a lesson that doesn’t fade quickly.

BAC Fighters without Borders

February 26, 2015

The 4 Golden Rules of Food Safety hold true no matter the location

BAC Fighter Stuart Baker, originally from London, has been working to bring the “Four Golden Rules of Food Safety” to the people of Thailand. For the past four years, Stuart has been training food handlers in Thailand’s hospitality industry about the importance of Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill with a popular interactive food safety workshop. When he’s not educating people in person, Stuart maintains a popular Facebook page where Thai chefs, hotels, and other businesses can find and download information to post on their notice boards or pass out as handouts.

Through his work with his company, Food Hygiene Asia, Stuart has reached no fewer than 2,000 Thai hospitality industry workers. That’s great progress in spreading the word on critical food safety practices in just four years. Thank you Stuart for the work you do to Fight BAC! – in Thailand!

Fight BAC! ® for Health and Wellness

February 26, 2015

Nutrition and food safety go hand in hand for whole health

The BAC Fighters at the National Institutes of Health Division of Nutrition Research Coordination (NIH/DNRC) believe that food safety is integral to a complete health and wellness plan!

These BAC Fighters distributed materials from the Partnership for Food Safety Education at the NIH Safety, Health and Wellness Day on August 28, 2013. The He’s BAC Story Book and the Food Safety on the Move Flyer both made an appearance to educate NIH employees on food safety.

The goal of the event is to enhance employee nutrition, wellness, physical fitness, safety awareness, and reduce work related injuries and illnesses. We’re happy that PFSE materials helped to enhance employee wellness by keeping food safety top of mind.

The NIH DNRC’s primary mission is coordinating nutrition research and research training initiatives at NIH. You can read more at http://dnrc.nih.gov/http://dnrc.nih.gov/.

We thank the BAC Fighters at NIH/DNRC for they work they do to incorporate Fighting BAC! into their nutrition initiatives!

Kansas Students Take on Food Safety Bad Guy

February 26, 2015

Teaching pre-school and early elementary children about healthy habits can be challenging. In Cowley County, Kansas, I engage children with a puppet show, hand washing activity, and taste test at “Dinosaur Diner.” During the 30 minute presentation, students learn about the benefits of eating a variety of foods, the importance of food safety, and personal hygiene.

The program features “Dino,” an alligator puppet who loves dinosaurs. “Dino” is concerned that his fellow alligators might someday be extinct because they do not eat a variety of foods. Dino’s goal is to open a restaurant and invite all alligators to be customers.

The children also meet “Chef,” who greets participants with a handshake while reviewing expectations for food safety. However, “Chef” informs the children there is a “bad guy” in the room! The “bad guy” (the BAC Puppet from the Partnership for Food Safety Education) uses a spooky voice to talk about germs and how bacteria will make the students feel “ucky and yucky!”

Students get rid of the “bad guy” by pretending to wash their hands and counting to 20. “Dino” praises the children for their hand washing skills but reminds them they must use real soap and water to kill germs. I utilize UV disclosing lotion and a black light to demonstrate the effectiveness of their real hand washing skills.

The final activity is a taste test of dinosaur dip with a slice of raw sweet potato. “Chef” has participants give a thumbs-up (they like it) or thumbs-to-the-side (please change the recipe) after the taste test. No “thumbs-down” are accepted because if might make “Chef” cry!

The presentation has been offered for PreK-2nd grade classrooms for the past three years. Last year, I visited 558 students (30 classrooms) with “Dino,” “Chef” and the “bad guy.” Some students request to see the “bad guy” again, but I explain that we wash our hands to get rid of the “bad guy” so we can be healthy! Teachers respond that the students demonstrate improved hand washing skills following their “Dinosaur Diner” experience.

Becky Reid is the Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent for Kansas State University Research and Extension in Cowley County, Kansas. She can be contacted at bkreid@ksu.edu or620)221-5450. Follow her on Twitter @TechieHomeckie.