========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 07:09:10 EDT Reply-To: EdNet@FOODSAFETY.GOV Sender: National Food Safety Educator's Network From: EDNET@FOODSAFETY.GOV Organization: National Food Safety Educator's Network Subject: EdNet Update 10/2000 * * * * National Food Safety Educator's Network * * * * * * * * EdNet-L@foodsafety.gov * * * * EdNet is an electronic newsletter from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), providing updates on food safety activities to educators and others concerned about food safety. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ IN THIS ISSUE FIGHT BAC!(TM) RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS NEWS FROM THE USDA/FDA FOODBORNE ILLNESS EDUCATION INFORMATION CENTER PUBLICATIONS NEW OPPORTUNITIES INDUSTRY INFO FEEDBACK SUBSCRIBE FIGHT BAC!(TM) New Director for the Partnership for Food Safety Education Melanie Miller has joined the Partnership as the first Executive Director. She has worked with numerous government, consumer, and industry organizations and has developed many professional contacts that will benefit the Partnership. Melanie has a BS in Home Economics and a MS in Ag Extension from the University of Wyoming. She lives in the Washington, DC area. Contact her at: 703-768-7980 or E-mail: fightbaced@mindspring.com Fall 2000 BAC TALK Check out the latest BAC TALK Fall Newsletter, the Official Newsletter of the Fight BAC!(TM) Campaign. Read about a Memphis teacher who earned National Honors for developing a science-based food safety curriculum, Wal-mart Supercenters' agreement to Fight BAC!(TM), and how you can order BAC-to-School items from the BAC store. http://www.fightbac.org/media Fight BAC!(TM) Travels 2000 BAC! Exhibit on the go!! BAC! exhibit and materials were featured at the American Dietetic Association in Denver, CO on October 16-19. BAC! exhibit and materials will travel to the American Public Health Association in Boston, MA on November 12-16. Have You Ordered Your Partnership Workbook Yet? A new grassroots workbook for local BAC campaigns developed by the Partnership for Food Safety Education entitled "Using Partnerships to Fight BAC!(TM): A Workbook for Local Food Safety Educators" is a step-by-step instruction book for partnering in your community. This planning guide provides examples of community programs and ideas that work for local organizers to develop their own local BAC campaigns. It was the feature of the national satellite video teleconference hosted by USDA and FDA on Tuesday, September 26, 2000. Pass the word about this new partnership tool! Workbooks and videotapes of the 2-hour videoconference are available free from USDA/FSIS. E-mail: fsis.outreach@usda.gov http://www.fightbac.org/educators http://www.fightbac.org/new RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS National Food Safety Education Month (SM) Success Stories Excellent feedback is arriving daily from educators around the country with reports on how they used the National Food Safety Education Month (SM) materials. Some examples include: * In Nebraska, local extension educators put together a terrific table top exhibit with food safety sayings "Don't Get Sick, Cool It Quick," "Make It A Law-Use the Fridge to Thaw," "More Than Two is Bad For You,"and "Watch That Plate, Don't Cross-Contaminate." * Many states signed proclamations from their governors, put out press releases, wrote special newspaper columns, and produced television and radio spots. * Missouri extension educators came up with a great idea to teach kids about bacteria--they used jelly beans to show how bacteria multiply! * The President of Assistance Food, Buenos Aires, Argentina, reported using the NFSEM program to focus on food safety education for persons working in the food industries who export food to the U.S. For more information, or to send your success stories, E-mail: Gertie.Hurley@usda.gov CDC Funds Four Awards for Coordinated School Food Safety Programs The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and School Health recently awarded four competitive agreements to one state and three national organizations to develop and strengthen coordinated school food safety programs. The recipient of the award "School Health Programs to Prevent Serious Health Problems and Improve Educational Outcomes: Food Safety Supplement" is the Rhode Island Department of Education. National organizations that were recipients for "Cooperative Agreements for National Programs to Build the Capacity of Schools to Prevent Foodborne Illness Through Coordinated School Food Safety Programs" are the National Environmental Health Association, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the American Nurse Foundation (School Nurses). Each of the funded organizations will work together and with CDC to strengthen partnerhships between education and health agencies, agriculture/cooperative extension agencies, and others to improve school food safety and foodborne illness prevention. For more information, E-mail: dgd0@cdc.gov Thermy(TM) Campaign Walmart Supercenters Feature Thermy(TM) Walmart's 800 supercenters are promoting food safety education in October. Look for Thermy(TM), USDA's new food safety messenger to promote the use of food thermometers on the back of thermometer packaging and floor displays from Chaney Instruments, makers of Accurite digital and instant read thermometers. Several supercenters in Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee are teaming with local cooperative extension agents to demonstrate the use of a variety of food thermometers and to hand out Thermy(TM) brochures to promote cooking to safe internal temperatures. Thermy(TM) On the Go: Thermy(TM), the costumed digital (thermometer) character was featured at the annual meeting of the American Dietetics Association. Thermy(TM) promoted the thermometer education campaign to registered dietitians and nutritionists attending in Denver, CO. The FSIS exhibit was a resource of food safety education materials from FSIS, Thermy(TM) and Fight BAC!(TM). The Thermy(TM) costume is available for large food safety events. To reserve Thermy(TM), contact Holly McPeak at: Telephone: 202-720-5836 or E-mail: fsis.outreach@usda.gov Thermy(TM) Video News Releases Free: Copies are available for food safety educators, on a first come, first served basis. Great for training introductions on the new Thermy(TM) campaign. The video news release (VNR) of Thermy(TM)'s campaign kick-off (2.55 minutes) featuring the Thermy(TM) public service announcements (PSAs -- 40 seconds and 30 seconds) provide a background of the importance of the thermometer education campaign. USDA/FSIS has just released a new VNR, entitled: "Use Thermy(TM) for Safe Holiday Meals" (1.57 minutes). Great for state and local TV networks for the upcoming Thanksgiving and Holiday seasons. Send in your request for the above videos to: E-mail: fsis.outreach@usda.gov State Food Safety Symposium Broadcast Participants of the multi-state research project "Enhancing Food Safety Through Control of Food-borne Disease Agents" have planned food safety symposium to be broadcast on November 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST. The focus of the symposium will be updates on the latest issues concerning food safety in lightly processed foods (produce), Listeria in ready-to-eat foods (such as meats and poultry), and consumer attitudes toward food safety and what consumers can do at home for protection. The symposium will be delivered by satellite to a national audience of extension educators, health department professionals, food safety experts, and others with an interest. Experts in each of the program's topic areas have been invited to provide the most important and up-to-date information. Each of the topics will have two speakers to bring different perspectives to the issue and will be followed by a question and answer period. Participants of the symposium will have the opportunity to ask or respond to questions via phone or fax. For more information, contact Beth Schroder, 540-231-3144 or E-mail: eschrode@vt.edu Register On line at: http://www.conted.vt.edu/fss.htm Keep in Touch...With Food Safety Education Information Thanks to all of you who provided comments on the "Partnering Made Easy" satellite videoconference. Many of you requested a list of all of the resources cited. Here they are: The Food Safety Educator: Free quarterly newsletter for food safety educators everywhere. Chocked full of articles and reviews of education programs being conducted around the country. The Educator will keep you informed and up-to-date. Information needed to subscribe: your full name, organization name and mailing address. * Write to: USDA/FSIS/Food Safety Education, Room 2944-South Building 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250 * Or fax your request to: (202) 720-9063 * Or E-mail your request to: fsis.outreach@usda.gov * Available on the FSIS Web site: www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/consedu.htm On the Web: * USDA/Food Safety and Inspection Service www.fsis.usda.gov * New Thermy(TM) Web Page www.fsis.usda.gov/thermy * Fight BAC!(TM) www.fightbac.org Order items from the Fight BAC!(TM) Store! * Gateway to Government Food Safety www.foodsafety.gov * FDA/Center to Food Safety and Applied Nutrition www.cfsan.fda.gov * USDA/FDA Foodborne Illness Education Information Center www.nal.usda.gov/foodborne * Centers for Disease Control and Prevention www.cdc.gov/foodsafety EdNet - a monthly electronic newsletter for food safety educators To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: LISTSERV@FOODSAFETY.gov Send the message: Subscribe EdNet-L firstname lastname Foodsafe - an on-line electronic discussion group To join, send an e-mail message to: majordomo@nal.usda.gov Send the message: subscribe foodsafe your name Toll-free: USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-800-535-4555 FDA's Outreach and Information Center 1-888-SAFEFOOD Food Safety Hotline 1-877-727-FOOD FDA and USDA have set up a joint Food Safety Recorded Message Hotline. The purpose of the hotline is to provide supplemental information for short periods of time by an unstaffed recorded message under the following situations: (1) during a public health emergency (e.g., a specific recall); or when a new food safety message is issued (e.g., egg safety guidance); or during a special promotional period (e.g., National Food Safety Education Month). The new hotline can handle between 1,400 - 5,700 calls an hour depending on length of recorded message. For a copy of this "Keep in Touch" factsheet: E-mail: fsis.outreach@usda.gov Top Ten Reasons to Partner! In response to requests from those viewing the save recent satellite conference, we are listing the Top Ten Reasons to Partner... for those who want to use this introduction in your presentations!... It's a great time for food safety education... The TOP TEN Reasons to Partner! 10. You really can't do it alone 9. There is strength - and safety - in numbers 8. Combined consensus = Clout 7. Partnering creates a richer product 6. Your message reaches a wider audience 5. Combines people-power -- Synergy 4. Provides more value to the dollar 3. It promotes a uniform message to the public 2. It's Effective -- Partnering Works 1. It's FUN! Adds up to Partnership Power!! (The Sum truly is greater than the Parts!) Source: E-mail: fsis.outreach@usda.gov New Goverment-Wide Consumer Web Site Now Available FirstGov.gov is a new government-wide consumer Web site that searches the Web sites from all Federal agencies. It provides extensive information on each of the three branches of the U.S. Federal Government and offers access to a wealth of State and local government information. http://www.firstgov.gov NEWS FROM THE USDA/FDA FOODBORNE ILLNESS EDUCATION INFORMATION CENTER Each issue of EdNet highlights interesting items from the USDA/FDA Foodborne Illness Educational Materials Database. Food Safety Materials for the Produce Industry TITLE: Safer Processing of Sprouts by the California Dept. of Health Available from: Circle Solutions, 2070 Chain Bridge Rd., Suite 450, Vienna, VA. Telephone: 703-902-1300. Description: This curriculum covers agricultural and postharvest water uses, manure and biosolids, worker health and hygiene, field and facility sanitation, transportation, and traceback. Information is also applicable to all domestic and foreign growers, packers, and shippers of unprocessed or minimally processed fresh fruit and vegetables, not just for sprout growers. *************** TITLE: Guidance for Industry: Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Available full-text online from the Food and Drug Administration Web site at: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/prodguid.html Description: This guidance document addresses microbial food safety hazards and good agricultural and management practices common to the growing, harvesting, washing, sorting, packing, and transporting of most fruits and vegetables sold to consumers in an unprocessed or minimally processed (raw) form. Also available is Spanish, French, and Portuguese. *************** TITLE: Food Safety for Produce Distribution Available from: Produce Marketing Association 1500 Casho Mill Road, P.O. Box 6036 Newark, DE 19714-6036 Telephone: 302-738-7100 Fax: 302-731-2409 Web site: http://www.pma.com Description: The guide covers such key topics as management knowledge and responsibility; supplier relationships; transportation; employee health, hygiene and food safety awareness; equipment and facility sanitation; and safety program evaluation. **************** TITLE: Produce Safety and Sanitation Available from: National Grocers Association 1825 Samuel Morse Drive Reston, VA 22090-5317 Telephone: 703-437-5300 Fax: 703-437-7768 Web site: http://www.nationalgrocers.org Description: Targeted toward new employees, this videotape reviews the basic safety and sanitation procedures for maintaining a safe, clean produce department. ************** TITLE: Cleaning and Sanitizing in Vegetable Processing Plants Available from: University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension 630 W. Mufflin St., Room 170 Madison, WI 53703 Telephone: 608-262-3346 Web site: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pubs/ Description: This video pays particular attention to safe handling of cleaning chemicals and how to use them under varying conditions. Also available in Spanish. *************** TITLE: Produce Handling for Direct Marketing Available from: Cornell University Resource Center, 7 Business & Technology Park, Ithaca, NY Description: Describes post harvest physiology, food safety, handling of produce from harvest to storage, refrigerated storage, produce displays,and specific handling and display recommendations for more than 40 fruits and vegetables. To learn more about other food safety training materials, visit the Center's Web site at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/foodborne PUBLICATIONS CDC and FDA Statement on Vibrio Parahaemolyticus The September 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association included an article entitled, "Emergence of a New Vibrio parahaemolyticus Serotype in Raw Oysters: A Prevention Quantary." This article reported on a 1998 outbreak of acute gastroenteritis in the United States caused by oysters that contained the bacteria V. parahaemolyticus. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/fpvibrio.html Updated USDA/FSIS "FOCUS ON: Chicken" Publication Now Available What's for dinner tonight? There's a good chance it's chicken -- now the number one meat or poultry item consumed by Americans. Interest in the safe handling and cooking of chicken is reflected in thousands of calls to the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, second only to turkey in number of specific inquiries. The following information answers many of the questions these callers have asked about chicken. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/chicken.htm CDC Reports on Human Ingestion of Anthrax-Contaminated Meat CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report issues report summarizing an investigation of farm family consuming meat from a steer that had been infected with Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax. The animal was slaughtered on the farm and did not enter the public meat supply. Public health authorities have recommended that the exposed family members take preventative antibiotics and begin anthrax vaccination. http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/mmwrnews/n2k0915.htm#mmwr1 CDC Reports Foodborne Botulism from Eating Home-Pickled Eggs A Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report illustrated a case of botulism caused by home-pickled eggs. Consumers should be aware of the risk of botulism when preserving food by any method and follow published instructions from tested recipes. http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/mmwrnews/n2k0901.htm#mmwr2 NEW OPPORTUNITIES Food and Nutrition Information Center Coordinator's Position The USDA's Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) located at the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, MD has a federal job opening for Coordinator at a GS-13 level. The position is for a Technical Information Specialist or Librarian with a nutrition background. The incumbent serves as coordinator of the FNIC and Food Mission area team; responsible for policy making, planning, managing, organizing, directing and evaluating the activities and functions of FNIC. This announcement closes on October 30, 2000. http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/wfjic/jobs/BT5846.HTM INDUSTRY INFO FDA Database of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors Released The FDA announced the release of the Report of the FDA Retail Food Program Database of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors. This report establishes a baseline to measure how effective industry and and regulatory efforts are in changing behaviors and practices that directly relate to food-borne illness in the retail food industry. FDA is responsible for setting standards for the safe production of food and advising state and local governments on food safety standards for institutional food service establishments, restaurants, retail foodstores, and other retail food establishments. A satellite broadcast: Report of the FDA Retail Food Program Database of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors will take place on October 27, 2000, from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. EST. As announced in the September 6 Federal Register, the purpose of the public meeting is to present the methodology used for developing a baseline on the occurrence of CDC- identified foodborne illness risk factors and data from the baseline inspections conducted (1998-1999) by FDA Regional Food Specialists. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/tpretrsk.html http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/retrsk.html http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/retrskfl.html FEEDBACK If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this issue, please contact us via e-mail at: ednet@foodsafety.gov. SUBSCRIBE Please forward this issue to colleagues and friends and tell them how to subscribe. Thank you for sharing this update. 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