1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqeCTDe2RUU
2. Journal Summaries:
Use of the Conceptual Change Teaching Method to Address Food Safety among Native American and Hispanic Food Preparers
Studies indicate that both Native Americans and Hispanics are at a high risk of contracting foodborne illnesses in the U.S. This problem can be prevented among this specific population in particular through “proper handling and preparation of food and improvements in food safety practices.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a simple 4 step process can be followed to avoid pathogens when working with food. These steps include: clean, separate, cook, and chill. In addition the Partnership for Food Safety Education has developed the FightBAC! Campaign which works to provide information to individuals surrounding this topic.
This study uses the Conceptual Change Teaching Method which is a “student-centered learning process” in which individuals learn in a casual, group setting hoping to engage students more and create an overall greater depth of understanding on topics rather than the traditional lecture-based teaching method. Researchers chose to use this specific method to communicate to their specific audience due to “Native American and Hispanic cultures value oral traditions and it has been suggested that teaching strategies that are focused on conversational casual interactions may be especially useful in facilitating change.”
The overall objective of this study was to educate Native American and Hispanic food preparers on how they can prevent contracting foodborne illnesses using the Conceptual Change Teaching Method creating a “culturally sensitive FightBAC! food safety education program” to fit the audience’s specific needs.
The researchers developed a program designed to “to improve participant knowledge of FightBAC! concepts and increase participant confidence in the ability to implement safe food-handling practices.” This entailed dividing the participants into small groups of 10 and having them attend a 3 hour class where the Conceptual Change Method was implemented by an instructor to increase the participants’ understanding of food safety while preparing food. The participants were given at their class a food safety kit with dish soap, cutting boards, a refrigerator thermometer, and a $10 gift card. In addition, the participants took surveys (offered in both English and Spanish) before and after the class, assessing their knowledge on food safety. The data from this program showed that participants’ overall confidence in the clean, separate, cook, and chill increased dramatically, proving the teaching technique used effective.
We utilized the information presented in this article to help better understand how our target audience prevent contracting foodborne illnesses when preparing food. We were able to incorporate the 4 concepts learned of cleaning, separating, cooking, and chilling from the article into our overall final project.
Works Cited
Sinley RC, Albrecht JA. Use of the Conceptual Change Teaching Method to Address Food Safety among Native American and Hispanic Food Preparers. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2015; 47: 390–393.
Bacterial Contamination of Hands Increases Risk of Cross-contamination among Low-income Puerto Rican Meal Preparers
It’s no secret that foodborne illnesses are a public concern in the U.S. “In the US, known pathogens account for an estimated 38.6 million foodborne illnesses each year and 13% (or 5.2 million) of those illnesses are caused by bacteria genera including Listeria, Salmonella, and Campylobacter.” These illnesses can be prevented through meal preparers’ proper food handling and sanitation practices.
This study was designed with two objectives in mind. The first objective of this study was to evaluate the bacterial contamination on low-income 60 female Puerto Rican meal preparer’s hands after cross-contamination while making a “chicken and salad” meal. Prior to conducting the meal preparation, the participants’ hands were tested for a variety of certain bacteria including Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria, and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). In addition, kitchen/utensil surfaces, and food ingredients were tested for bacteria before, during, and after the meal. The research showed that those who considered “food safety” to have high importance in preparing a meal were more likely to test negative for certain types of bacteria. When participants’ hands tested positive for certain bacteria before the meal preparation, the counter/cutting board and sink was significantly higher in bacteria. The study concluded that “meal preparer’s hands can be a vehicle of pathogen transmission during meal preparation.”
The second objective of the study was to look for a relationship between levels of bacteria on the hands of meal preparers and their sociodemographic, food safety attitude, and acculturation. The research showed that individuals need to be better educating on the topics of food handling and preparation to decrease the amount of foodborne illnesses which this particular population being studied are prone to contracting.
Learning about how cross contamination of foods can have negative effects on the sanitation of both the meal preparer’s hands as well as the surfaces on which the food was prepared helped in the understanding of our PSA topic. This helped us to stress the importance of proper hand washing technique when working with food.
Works Cited
Dharod JM, Paciello S, Bermúdez-Millán A, Venkitanarayanan K, G Damio, R Pérez-Escamilla. Bacterial Contamination of Hands Increases Risk of Cross-contamination among Low-income Puerto Rican Meal Preparers. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2009; 41: 389–397.
The Danger Zone
This particular article, that was used to obtain information for our PSA, discusses the safety and importance of cooking foods to a proper temperatures. To decrease the risk of food poisoning and foodborne illnesses, it is important to follow correct cooking techniques. Also, after cooking any type of perishable food it is important that it is stored at a low enough temperature to avoid bacterial growth.
When cooking any type of meat product, it is important to stay out of the danger zone. The danger zone ranges from 40°F to 140°F. This is due to the fact that bacteria can grow quite well between these temperatures. Cooking any type of food at 160°F or above will completely kill any type of bacteria. Also, storing food at any temperature below 40°F will slow the growth of bacteria. I might seem odd that only a few temperatures above or below the danger zone can drastically change the safety of our food. However, a single bacteria can multiply to trillions in just a few hours of being in the danger zone.
Unfortunately, sometime people forget these simple guidelines of cooking and have themselves fall victim to food poisoning. This is why it is important that schools, restaurants, and food production facilities cook all the food they are serving to safe temperatures. To avoid the possibility to contracting a foodborne illness, everyone should cook their meats and poultry to 160°F or above. Another way to avoid illness is to refrigerate foods below 40°F 1 to 2 hours after cooking, and reheated the food to a safe internal temperature if you plan to eat it again. Cooking food to proper temperatures is especially important for young children since their immune systems are still developing.
During the making of our PSA we used the information from this source to give our audience a sense of the dangers from undercooked meat. By informing the audience of the proper temperatures to cook meat and poultry, will hopefully guide them in the right direction for their future food preparation.
Works Cited
Cunningham E. The Danger Zone.
http://www.eatright.org/resource/homefoodsafety/safety-tips/food-poisoning/the-danger-zone. Accessed March 10, 2016.
3. We included video demonstrations in our PSA video to teach self efficacy, which is included under the Individual tenet of the Social Ecological Model. Our suggestion to have the audience ask their supervisors for informational food safety posters in their workplaces falls under the organizational tenet of the Social Ecological Model by changing their environment.
4. We planned the video after brainstorming the script and how to present the information to our target audience. The video took about one weekend to complete. The only problem we ran into was creating the video demonstrations to match our script exactly, and this was not a big issue. One video was taped with one error, but it was quickly resolved. Our PSA production came as a nice surprise with how easily and professionally it came together. We would suggest for future groups to work ahead of time on this project so that if they run into any problems, they will have time to find a solution and fix it.
Here is the link for Lesson Plan: https://sites.psu.edu/mqinutr360/2016/04/12/lesson-plan/
Featured Image: http://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/a-single-food-safety-agency-has-its-time-come/#.Vw0tQdIrJdg