Materials:

• One minute video clip of Alyssa Milano speaking on food safety: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLB0D-S7qeM
• Partnership for Food Safety Education’s website: www.fightbac.org
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention_Food Safety: https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/

Assignment steps:

Step 1: Watch video: Alyssa Milano on Food Safety: 

Step 2: Access information related to safe food handling at FightBac.org and the CDC. Although students may browse the entire site, they should focus the majority of their time reading the sections entitled, “Clean,” “Separate,” “Cook,” and “Chill.”

Step 3: Students will research a recent outbreak of foodborne illness in the news and write a written report. Although students may include additional information, the following information is required:

• News source
• Date of news report
• Number of individuals affected
• Food source
• Microorganism causing the illness
• Symptoms of illness
• How could this foodborne illness have been prevented?

Step 4: Within the written report, students should also address these points:

• Define foodborne illness in your own words
• Identify a favorite food that would be classified as a potentially hazardous food
• Give examples of cross-contamination of food
• Provide at least one recommendation from each of the 4 core practices (e.g. prior to cooking, store chicken in refrigerator at 40 F or lower).

At the conclusion of this assignment, students will be able to:

• Describe the scope of foodborne illness in the United States
• Describe four core food handling practices to reduce the risk of foodborne illness
• Identify foods most likely to be associated with foodborne illness