Partnership for Food Safety Education

FightBAC!

PFSE Welcomes New Chair, Vice Chair to Board of Directors

Dr. Barb Masters of Tyson Foods elected as Board Chair, Ashley Eisenbeiser of FMI – The Food Industry Association elected as Vice Chair

The Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) announced Dr. Barb Masters was elected as its new board chair during the October Board of Directors Meeting. Dr. Masters brings a wealth of experience and passion to the role of board chair. She succeeds Harold Chase of NSF, who served as chair since 2022.

Dr. Masters serves as vice president of regulatory policy, food and agriculture with Tyson Foods, Inc. She has a proven track record in advancing food safety from farm to fork.

Dr. Masters holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Mississippi State University and a Food Animal Internship from Kansas State University. She has served on PFSE’s board since 2020.

“With more people eating at home, combining their meals with prepared and fresh foods for convenience, it’s so important to work across sectors to support information disseminators with science-based resources so they can be effective at influencing food handling behaviors,” said Dr. Masters. “I believe the Partnership is well positioned to provide such leadership.”

Additionally, Ashley Eisenbeiser, senior director of food and product safety programs at FMI – The Food Industry Association, was elected as vice chair of the PFSE Board of Directors. She graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in food science and technology, and earned a master’s degree in food science and technology from Virginia Tech. Eisenbeiser has served on PFSE’s Board since 2020.

As a previous family and consumer sciences extension agent with Virginia Cooperative Extension, Eisenbeiser is particularly passionate about food safety education.

“We will continue leading the way in consumer food safety education, all with one goal: to serve our communities and reduce the risk of foodborne illness,” said Eisenbeiser.

Dr. Masters and Eisenbeiser, alongside the full Board of Directors, are both committed to advancing the mission and expanding the Partnership’s reach to ensure that everyone has access to essential food safety education.

Under the leadership of its Board of Directors, the Partnership spearheaded a Collective Day of Action on Wednesday, Sept. 18, in observance of National Food Safety Education Month. The event united food industry, federal agencies, health, nutrition and food safety educators, garnering more than 150 posts across social media channels and internal communications with an estimated reach of 4 million people in one day.

Thirteen thousand community-based health, nutrition and food safety professionals rely on the Partnership for science-based resources and tools. PFSE has hosted educational webinars and events on topics such as the importance of food safety in nutrition, food safety for older adults, and perceptions of flour risk. Nearly 90 percent of respondents report that they are likely to share the information they learned from these events in their outreach efforts.

The Partnership will host the Consumer Food Safety Education Conference (CFSEC) on March 13-14, 2025, at the Sysco Headquarters in Houston, Texas. The CFSEC is the only conference in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to food safety education. This interactive two-day event will bring together forward-thinking leaders in food safety for dynamic discussions, provide opportunities to network with notable industry professionals, and offer new tools and resources to enhance food safety practices. For more information, visit cfsec.org or contact PFSE at cfsec@fightbac.org.

Visit the PFSE’s website to view the full list of the Board of Directors.

About the Partnership for Food Safety Education
The non-profit Partnership for Food Safety Education is the creator and steward of the popular Fight BAC!® national food safety education campaign and the national leader in 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.

Contact PFSE Communications Associate Shawnte Loeri for more information. 

CATHY PROVIDES FOOD SAFETY TRAINING IN NEW JERSEY

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!

Kick Off! Publix Supports Food Safe Tailgates!

9/23/2015.  Publix Super Markets connects its National Food Safety Education Month outreach (September) with its’ Publix Ultimate Food Safe Tailgate Experience! Publix is the official supermarket of four National Football League teams – the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Atlanta Falcons—and also supports area college football.

Throughout September Publix is supporting food-safe tailgating events for fans of all the teams – including handing out the Publix Chill Checker and thermometers to fans!

While food safety is every day at Publix, in September especially the company stresses the importance of food safety with its’ associates –while they are at work through weekly communications and while at home through its’ associate website.

In September Publix is also working with Newspapers in Education to deliver a 20-page food safety curriculum program for high school students throughout the Southeastern US. Each newspaper has a Publix Chill Checker attached to the front page. A social media campaign encourages these students to use their Publix Chill Checker and post to Instagram. C3 - Ultimate Food Safe Tailgate_Page_1

Kroger Co. Southwest Stores Step Up Food Safety Communications

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The Partnership for Food Safety Education worked with contributing partner Kroger to create a week- by- week Food Safety Education Month outreach plan.  We thank every participating Kroger Co. store for connecting with customers on this important topic!

Kroger’s 220 Southwest stores were excited to participate in National Food Safety Education Month Activities! Here is just a sampling of what they did to help make sure consumers took home food safety messages:

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  • Fight BAC!® messages were integrated with selling strategies around products like hand soap and hand sanitizer.
  • Store managers were challenged through a contest to create in-store displays. The prizes?  Houston Texan and Texas State Fair tickets.
  • Kroger corporate provided all Southwest Kroger store merchandising teams with materials and tips in daily merchandising updates.
  • Store managers coached their store teams on Fight BAC!® food safety practices so they were prepared to answer customer questions.

Customers were happy to learn something extra about food safety when they came in to do their shopping. Thank you Kroger Co. Southwest for all of these great efforts! 

 

 

 

Kroger Nashville Store Managers Compete for Best Food Safety Booth

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The Partnership for Food Safety Education worked with contributing partner Kroger to create a week- by- week Food Safety Education Month outreach plan.  We thank every participating Kroger Co. store for connecting with customers on this important topic!

Shana Davis, Food Safety Manager for Kroger’s Nashville division caught up with us to talk about how she encouraged a little healthy competition among store managers to boost food safety education month customer engagement in their 89 Nashville area stores.

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Each store was instructed to set up a food safety booth in-store and stock it with the Partnership’s s Home Food Safety Mythbusters flyers.  Store co-managers were on location to engage with customers and answer questions based on the Mythbusters information.  To encourage managers to engage, Shana set up a “best-booth” competition. The districts shared their booth pictures on the private social networking site, Yammer, for a chance to win a prize.

What amazing food safety education work from Nashville!  Thank you Shana! Shana didn’t stop there! She traveled around to stores in her division doing food safety Q&A sessions with customers. Some lucky customers were even given refrigerator and food thermometers!