Partnership for Food Safety Education

FightBAC!

Community Potlucks: A National Moment in Prevention

MEDIA RELEASE

Media Contact:

Britanny Saunier, executive director
bsaunier@fightbac.org 

June 15, 2026

The Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) is encouraging communities participating in America’s 250th Potluck to follow safe food handling practices that reduce the risk of food poisoning.

Food poisoning increases in the summer as warm temperatures allow harmful bacteria to grow, especially at large gatherings where homemade dishes are shared. PFSE is committed to helping families, educators, and community leaders prevent illness through simple, science‑based steps.

PFSE is raising awareness of this national event across its network of more than 13,000 health, nutrition , and food safety professionals and nearly 40 food industry partners in the United States. By equipping trusted local professionals with ready‑to‑use resources, PFSE aims to support engagement with potlucks already registered in their communities and ensure essential food safety information is shared.

PFSE’s national network is encouraged to visit the America’s 250th Potluck website to find local events and connect with organizers. The Partnership has developed an action guide with free, ready‑to‑go resources to help educators talk about summer food safety and potluck best practices. Access your action guide here. 

By joining this national moment, communities can celebrate together while taking meaningful steps to prevent food poisoning.

About the Partnership for Food Safety Education
The nonprofit Partnership for Food Safety Education unites educators, industry, and government so that together, we can prevent foodborne illness, protect public health, and strengthen trust in the safety of our food. Our work is supported by 35+ contributors including the FMI Foundation and Costco Wholesale. Visit fightbac.org to learn more.

How to Cook a Thanksgiving Meal So People Don’t Get Sick

Authored by: Addy Gray-Johnson, MPH student, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The secret to a safe and delicious Thanksgiving is simple: keep things clean, separate raw foods, cook to the right temperatures, and chill leftovers quickly. These four steps help prevent food poisoning and make your holiday meal both joyful and safe for everyone at the table.

Start the Holidays Right—With Clean Hands and Clean Spaces

A great Thanksgiving meal begins long before the turkey hits the oven.

Keep Clean With These Simple Habits

● Wash your hands with warm, soapy water for 20 seconds (sing the chorus of your favorite holiday song!)
● Rinse fruits and vegetables under running water
● Clean cutting boards, countertops, and utensils before switching tasks
A clean kitchen is your first line of defense—and your guests will thank you for it.

Avoid Cross-Contamination: Keep Foods Separate

Raw turkey and ready-to-eat foods don’t play well together. Keep them apart to prevent harmful bacteria from spreading.

Separation Made Simple

● Use one cutting board for raw meat and another for produce
● Store raw turkey, poultry, seafood, and eggs away from other foods
● It’s recommended not to return cooked food to a plate that held raw ingredients

Think of it as giving your ingredients their own “holiday bubble.”

Cook It Right—Temperature Matters More Than Timing

Your oven timer can’t tell you whether your turkey is safe—the food thermometer is
your holiday hero.

Temperature Tips for a Safe Feast

● Cook turkey to an internal temperature of 165°F
● Check in three spots: thickest part of the breast, innermost thigh, and innermost wing.
● Reheat leftovers to 165°F
● Stir microwaved foods to eliminate cold spots where bacteria love to hide.
If you check the temperature, you won’t have to check on your family from the ER later.

Chill Out—Literally

The holiday hustle can be chaotic, but your food should never sit out and “relax” too long.

Keep Leftovers Safe

● Refrigerate leftovers with 2 hours
● Put perishables (meat, poultry, eggs, dairy) in the fridge immediately after shopping.
● Thaw frozen foods safely in the fridge, cold water, or microwave, never on the counter.
Cold temperatures slow bacterial growth, so make sure your fridge is set to 40°F or below.

A Safe Holiday Is a Happy Holiday

When you follow the Core Four: Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill, you protect your family from food poisoning and keep the holiday festivities focused on fun, gratitude, and great food.

For more food safety tips, recipes, and resources, visit FightBAC.org. Here’s to a safe, tasty, and joy-filled Thanksgiving!

Call for Volunteers: Apply Online Now!

The Partnership is looking for volunteers to assist with communications and marketing, donor relations, program management and translation. 

Ideal candidates have an interest in public health, food safety, strategic planning, and/or marketing and communications. Applicants can be current students, recent graduates or working professionals. 

Volunteer Projects

  • Communications and marketing planning: Create and write a social media and marketing plan
  • Donor relations: Help manage donor records, donor benefit fulfillment and assist in creating ideas for engaging donors in our mission (You will not be asking people for financial support. This is a behind the scenes role.)
  • Programming: Manage program data and prepare summary reports
  • Translation and review: Translate food safety education resources, review for scientific accuracy, identify resources for update and create a directory of resources


Volunteers will work remotely but within a team dynamic with the Partnership’s team. Flexible schedule that can be developed mutually. Must be willing to meet virtually via Zoom or Google to discuss projects (will be arranged beforehand).

Benefits of Volunteering 

  • Contribute to consumer food safety education and helping to keep people healthy.
  • Learn more about the consumer food safety education sector while adding to your skills with a project you can use as work example.
  • Opportunity for students or young professionals wanting to develop more experience or anyone looking for a way to give back.


Please send a formal interest letter or email to Britanny Saunier at bsaunier@fightbac.org. Include your interest in the topics above, why this is important to you, anything about your academic or professional background that may apply, and your anticipated availability.

Consumer Food Safety Nonprofit Announces Britanny Saunier as Next Executive Director

Britanny SaunierThe nonprofit Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) has selected Britanny Saunier, the current director of development, as its new executive director effective September 20, 2021. Saunier succeeds Shelley Feist who recently resigned after 18 years of service to PFSE.

Following a deep passion for preventing foodborne illnesses, Saunier first joined PFSE in 2011 as an intern. She quickly moved up the ranks as a development and communications associate, supporting PFSE program development and donor stewardship. In 2017, Saunier was promoted to director of development. In this capacity, she has successfully increased PFSE’s program service revenue and brought diversification to PFSE’s Partner network.

She has facilitated program engagement with consumer and academic food safety experts, supported PFSE programs, including the National Consumer Food Safety Education Conference.

“On behalf of the Partnership’s Board of Directors, I am very excited to have a person of Britanny’s caliber as our next executive director,” said Michael Roberson, PFSE board chair and director of corporate quality assurance at Publix Super Markets. “Britanny has a passion and track record of delivering world-class food safety service to our BAC Fighters across the nation and we look forward to the Partnership’s future success with Britanny’s leadership, creativity, collaborative approach and commitment to consumer education.”

Saunier holds a master’s in public administration with a health policy focus from the School of Public Affairs at the American University in Washington, D.C. and a bachelor of arts in political science from Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio. As executive director, Saunier will work closely with PFSE staff, Board of Directors, Partners and Federal Liaisons to ensure that PFSE is effectively supporting the 13,000 health and food safety educators it serves with science-based and FREE safe food handling information for community dissemination to 8.5 million households across the U.S.

“I am beyond honored to be selected as the next executive director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education,” Saunier said. “This next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the Partnership, and I can’t wait to work with our health and food safety educators to help bend the curve of foodborne illness.”

Read the press release on PR Newswire

Download a PDF of the release

Prep Yourself: Food Is On the Way!

Partnership for Food Safety Education behind first national food safety campaign for food delivery

Press Release (Aug. 30, 2021)

Responding to the increasing use of food delivery services and as National Food Safety Education Month kicks off, the Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) has launched a new national campaign to help food delivery users ensure the safety of their delivered foods. Prep Yourself: Food Is on the Way, the first national food safety campaign specifically targeting users of food delivery services, seeks to encourage safe food handling at home and educate consumers on what to consider when ordering from food delivery services.

“The coronavirus pandemic kicked food delivery usage into overdrive,” said Shelley Feist, executive director of PFSE. “We’re excited to have led the expert collaboration behind these new, consumer-tested resources.  Using this campaign is a great way to start a conversation with people who want to ensure health and safety when ordering food to be delivered.”

Food delivery services include meal kits, restaurant delivery and grocery delivery. According to an April 2020 survey conducted by Statista, over one-third of both suburban and urban respondents said they used online food delivery services or restaurant apps to order food. According to the 2021 Food and Health Survey conducted by the International Food Information Council, 72% of Americans say the pandemic is changing the way they eat and prepare food. This study showed 42% of consumers are shopping for groceries online at least monthly.

“Where consumers get their food has changed, from around the corner to around the world. With foods now delivered to their homes by a variety of delivery models, empowering consumers with the knowledge they need to keep their families safe is key to the prevention of foodborne illnesses and a central tenet of FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety,” said Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for food policy and response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “We are grateful for the good work done by the Partnership for Food Safety Education to provide consumers with food safety educational messages during these changing times.”

Prep Yourself: Food Is on the Way includes digital advertising, social media, and print collateral that can be integrated into food delivery service provider communications or other food safety educator communications. With a suite of downloadable resources, the PFSE encourages anyone who is interested in communicating about food safety in the delivery space to access the free materials. The PFSE will be utilizing the campaign resources throughout the month of September, National Food Safety Education Month, and beyond.

“The food industry needs resources to help communicate with consumers amid this changing landscape,” said Steven Mandernach of the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO). “PFSE’s new Prep Yourself campaign will help food safety experts and other people who deal with consumers in the food safety space reach consumers with important information about how to keep food safe at home. We’re in a new era of food safety, and it requires that everyone understand their role in maintaining the safety of our food from the farm to our tables.”

The Partnership for Food Safety Education recognizes AFDO, Instacart and Sysco for their support of Prep Yourself: Food Is on the Way. 

On Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021, PFSE and AFDO co-hosted a webinar that brought together more than 500 attendees to learn about the new campaign resources. Campaign resources and more information can be found at fightbac.org/prep-yourself. Social media content related to the campaign can be found using #prepyourself.

About the PFSE
The non-profit Partnership for Food Safety Education is the originator of science-based food safety messages and the national leader in developing and disseminating information around the linkage of food safety consumer education with positive health outcomes. Food safety and health educators, and consumers, can download free food safety education information from the Partnership’s website at fightbac.org. The Partnership is the creator and steward of the popular Fight BAC!® national food safety education campaign.

Download a PDF of this press release.

The 18-month process to develop Prep Yourself: Food is on the Way was led by outgoing PFSE Executive Director Shelley Feist. Shelley has served as Executive Director since 2003. She is leaving this role in September 2021 to start her own business. 

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