| Partnership for Food Safety Education

Spring Forward with Food Safety

March 26, 2024

Many of this season’s celebrations involve perishable foods like eggs, beef, ham and lamb. These foods need to be handled properly at home to prevent food poisoning.

Safe Egg Handling

Eggs are a big part of many spring celebrations and activities. Kids love to decorate and dye them, hide them, and cook them with their families in festive foods.

Follow these eggs-pert food safety tips with kids and families to keep them safe this spring season:

Wash hands with soap and water before preparing food and after handling raw eggs.
Prevent cross-contamination. Wash cutting boards, counters, utensils, and serving plates after touching raw eggs, meat, poultry, and seafood.
Remember the two-hour rule. Don’t leave eggs out at room temperature for more than two hours.
Cook eggs and dishes containing eggs until the internal temperature reaches 160° F on a food thermometer.
For egg hunts and other activities, only use eggs that have been refrigerated. Discard eggs that are cracked, dirty, or have been out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

Get more safe egg handling advice to keep you and your young ones healthy this season.

Handle & Cook Meats Safely

The meat is the centerpiece of any holiday meal. Make sure yours is a showstopper by handling and cooking it safely:

Wash hands with soap and water before preparing food and after handling raw meat and poultry.
Cook ham until the internal temperature of 145 °F on a food thermometer with a three-minute “rest time” after removal from the heat source.
Bake beef brisket, fat side up in a baking dish, in an oven set no lower than 325 °F. The brisket is safe to eat when it reaches an internal temperature of 145 °F on a food thermometer with a three-minute “rest time” after removal from the heat source.
Cook all raw lamb steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F on a food thermometer with a three-minute “rest time” after removal from the heat source.

Spring Clean Your Way to a Safer Kitchen

It’s important to know the difference between cleaning and sanitizing. They aren’t the same thing. Both are important to help prevent the spread of harmful germs.

Cleaning removes germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces or objects. Cleaning works by using soap (or detergent) and water to physically remove germs from surfaces. This process does not necessarily kill germs, but by removing them, it lowers their numbers and the risk of spreading infection.
Sanitizing lowers the number of germs on surfaces or objects. This process works by disinfecting surfaces or objects using a diluted liquid chlorine bleach solution (combine 1 tablespoon liquid chlorine bleach with 1 gallon of water in a clean bucket).

Learn more about when to clean and when to sanitize at home.

Follow these food safety tips to help your family and friends have an egg-cellent spring celebration!

BAC Fighter Game Teaches Refrigerator Safety

June 26, 2015

My go-to food safety educational game for open houses and health fairs is my refrigerator game. When you only have a minute or two with people, I’ve learned you have to make food safety eye-catching, interactive, and understandable for young kids to older adults.

I made my own mini-refrigerator out of junk Styrofoam and rubber. I have my audience role a dice, and if the number is positive or negative I’ll ask them to tell me one way food was stored correctly or incorrectly in the refrigerator.

Most people walk away learning that you shouldn’t keep your eggs in the refrigerator door despite how most refrigerator are designed, and that an appliance thermometer is important to have. My audience also learns that the refrigerator should be 40°F or lower, and that meat should be wrapped and placed on a lower shelf.

About the author:

Shauna Henley works for the University of Maryland Extension as a Family & Consumer Sciences educator. She focuses on teaching food safety, nutrition, and physical activity to the great Baltimore community.

Food Safety Superstar

May 26, 2015

What do you do when you have an encounter with a serious foodborne illness? You Fight BAC! ®

Dana Dziadul acquired Salmonella Poona after eating contaminated cantaloupe at the age of three. She’s developed reactive arthritis as a result of the food poisoning. It affects her life every day. Dana’s experience with a serious illness inspired her to become a food safety advocate – specifically to help keep children like her seven- year old sister safe from food poisoning.

Dana, now 17, has released a book titled Food Safety Superstar that turns the four core practices into four core Superpowers every kid (and adult) needs to protect themselves against food poisoning. According to Dana, anyone can gain these superpowers with a little education.

Dana will join the Partnership for Food Safety Education and hundreds of health and food safety educators at the Consumer Food Safety Education Conference 2014. She will be featured in the plenary session, Champions for Consumers: Food Safety Educators in Action.

Louisiana BAC Fighter Hosts Power Packed Camp

May 26, 2015

Linda Gauthier and her team at Louisiana State University (LSU) hosted a Microbiology and Food Safety Camp from July 14-18, 2014 for 7th and 8th graders on the LSU campus.

During the camp, students:

Constructed a giant microbe.
Researched bacteria and made three dimensional models using yarn, Styrofoam, etc.
Created food safety recipes cards with food safety tips for each ingredient and step of the recipe. Afterwards, they shared their recipes with other campers!
Learned the science of cooking a hamburger.
Designed a new package for food and created mock advertisements for their products.
Created their own “most unwanted pathogens” poster.
Visited a food engineering plant, the LSU Food Science Lab, and a microbiology lab.

The campers went home happy after a fun week learning about food safety and science! Linda has been teaching kids about food safety and science for over 30 years. Thanks for all of the hard work, Linda!

U of Missouri Extension Fights BAC with Backpacks

April 26, 2015

Friday Backpack program reaches 19,400 students weekly

Missouri children are getting the nutrition and food safety information they need thanks to the BAC Fighters at University of Missouri Extension. Creative programs help make sure kids are eating well, living healthy lifestyles, and forming food safety habits with the help of Fight BAC!® materials.

Through their Friday Backpack program, more than 19,000 children statewide receive ready to eat foods from their local food bank every Friday. The University of Missouri Extension supplements the program by providing educational materials like kid-friendly recipe cards, activity sheets, and Fight BAC stickers.

In the Show ME Nutrition Curriculum, 150 Nutrition Educators teach kids from Kindergarten through Junior High the facts on healthy eating and food safety. The educators reach kids in many settings including schools, food stores, and libraries. They extend the learning to parents and caregivers by giving kids newsletters and handouts to take home and share. Healthy eating and food safety go hand in hand for whole health!
Thank you to the BAC Fighters at University of Missouri Extension!