Nonprofit Partnership for Food Safety Education secures new supporters in effort to improve public health outcomes
Arlington, Va. — The non-profit Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) raises awareness of foodborne illness prevention through free, science-based food safety education programs. PFSE is excited to announce Wayne Farms and Kroger Company have invested as Contributing Partners, joining 40 leading organizations to increase public awareness of safe food handling and hand hygiene.
“As the Partnership celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are pleased to have Wayne Farms and Kroger join our work to help prevent foodborne illness,” said Michael Roberson, chairman of the Board of PFSE and director of corporate quality assurance with Publix Super Markets, Inc. “We will continue working with our partners, federal liaisons, and health and food safety educators as we continue to focus on food safety education for consumers.”
According to the CDC, an estimated 48 million people in the United States are affected by foodborne illnesses each year. Certain groups of people are at increased risk of hospitalization and potentially life-threatening conditions. For example, children under age five are disproportionately affected by serious foodborne illness, represent half of all hospitalizations in the U.S. each year.
Contributing Partners provide year-round funding that allows PFSE to serve more than 9 million consumers with free downloadable, science-based tools and resources that they can access at fightbac.org. Partners’ investments also support a network of 13,000 community-based health and food safety educators providing free resources to advance their community-based work as well as educational events such as the biannual Consumer Food Safety Education Conference.
“At a time when food costs and demands on food banks are increasing, it’s so important to make sure people know how to handle food safely to stay healthy,” said Britanny Saunier, executive director of PFSE. “Foodborne illness is serious and can result in chronic health conditions for many. The investment and thought leadership from passionate organizations, federal and state agencies, consumer groups, and food industry associations are critical to advancing food safety education.”
For more information about PFSE and consumer food safety education, visit www.fightbac.org.
About 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. Consumers and food safety and health educators can download free food safety education information from the Partnership’s website at www.fightbac.org. The Partnership is the creator and steward of the popular Fight BAC!® national food safety education campaign.
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Shawnte Loeri is the Communications Associate with the Partnership for Food Safety Education. She can be reached at sloeri@fightbac.org.