USDA Hosts Food Safety Camp for Kids

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) hosted a food safety camp for local area fourth graders from Prince Georges County, Md.

Almost 60 students took part in hands-on demonstrations to learn important food safety lessons through science.

Each student were able to view common types of foodborne bacteria through high powered microscopes; participate in hand-washing experiments using glow-in-the-dark materials; prepare safe snacks in the microwave and calibrate different types of food thermometers.

Throughout the day, students met with USDA scientists to learn about how bacteria in food may cause illness and how to avoid it.

"It is important that children be taught about food safety so they can understand what behaviors to embrace and which ones to avoid," said Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety Beth Johnson. "We teach safety when kids learn to swim and ride bikes, and we need to teach safety when it comes to handling and preparing food."

Most of the learning stations at the camp featured a message from USDA's Be Food Safe campaign, which embrace the four easy lessons of Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill. These messages teach the safe way to prepare and handle food in order to avoid the spread of bacteria and to prevent foodborne illness.

* Clean - Wash hands and surfaces often.
* Separate - Don't cross-contaminate. Keep raw meat and poultry apart from cooked foods.
* Cook - Use a food thermometer to be sure meat and poultry are safely cooked.
* Chill - Refrigerate or freeze promptly.


One station at the camp allowed the students to pose questions to the USDA's online food safety expert, Ask Karen. Karen is the USDA's virtual representative that is available to answer food safety questions 24 hours day, seven days a week.

These are important lessons that every child needs to learn.