Food Safe Schools: what

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Food Safe Schoolswhats it all about?

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Presentation Objectives

• ?Participants will gain an understanding of the
  importance of food safety throughout the school
  community.
• ?Participants will become aware of and
  knowledgeable about the concept of Food Safe
  Schools.

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How common is foodborne disease?

• In the U.S., CDC estimates that foodborne
  pathogens cause
• ? 76 million illnesses per year
• ? 325,000 hospitalizations per year
• ? 5,000 deaths per year
• Mead, P.S., et al., Food-Related Illness and
  Death in the United States. Emerging Infectious
  Diseases, 1999. 5 (5)

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National Food Safety InitiativeFrom Farm to
Table

• Goals
• ? Education
• ? Prevention
• ? Seamless food safety net
• ? Improvements in surveillance

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Q Why the focus of food safety in schools?

• A Because children are at an increased
  risk for foodborne illness!

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More reasons for food safety in schools . . .

• ?Approximately 1/3 of the U.S. population
  attends, works for, or has children in schools.
• ?In 1998, 43 of all food preparation and food
  service workers were 16-24 years old.
• ?McDonalds serves 20 million hamburgers a day
  while U.S. schools serve over 33 million meals.
• (ACS, 1998 McFact on McDonalds.com US
  Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPS 1998)

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Food Safety in the News...
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Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH)

• ? Primary food safety objective is to promote and
  incorporate food safety into school programs.
• www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash

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What is the Food Safe School Initiative?
Its about utilizing the coordinated school
health program approach for ensuring food safety
in schools throughout the school community.
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Food Safe School Framework
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A Food Safe School

• Definition
• A school that incorporates food safety
  education, principles, and practices into
  everyday operating procedures.

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Whats involved?

• ? Collaborating with others to ensure safe food.
• ? Developing a local level multi-disciplinary
  team.
• ? Evaluating current policies and procedures.
• ? Educating food service personnel, students,
  teachers, parents, and others in the school
  community.
• ? Practicing safe food handling, preparation,
  storage, and eating!

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Food Safe School Examples

• Food safety policies and procedures in place
  district-wide.
• Food safety training for food service staff and
  volunteers
• Food safety education in the
  
  
• classroom
• Hand washing encouraged by
• all!

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Goal of the National Coalition for Food Safe
Schools

• Multi-disciplinary
• Multi-agency participation

• Resource sharing dissemination

Improved, seamless support of Food Safe Schools

• Strategic Planning
• Collaboration

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Now Available! www.FoodSafeSchools.org

• ?One-stop gateway for school food safety
  information and resources
• ?Links to NCFSS 25 member organizations web
  sites

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Other resources as well as the Web site . . .

• ?California Healthy Kids
• Resource Center
• ?Healthy Schools... Healthy People, Its A SNAP!
  (School Network for Absenteeism Prevention)

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Questions? You can contact Cindy Schneider,
M.P.A., R.D., California Department of Education
916.322.1566
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References

• Buzby, J., Children and Microbial Foodborne
  Illness. FoodReview, volume 24, Issue 2, 2001.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  Vital health statistics. 1999.
• Daniels, N. A., Mackinnon, L., et al. Foodborne
  disease outbreaks in the United States schools.
  Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 2002 21(7)
  623-628.
• Food-Safe Schools Recommendations 2002. ORC
  Macro under contract to the Division of
  Adolescent and School Health, CDC in
  collaboration with experts from national school
  and health organizations.
• Warner, J., Salmonella Infections Still Rising.
  Web MD Medical News from Morbidity and Mortality
  Weekly Report, CDC, April 2003.
• 4.75 million awarded in E. Coli case. Seattle,
  WA Herald, January 2001.