An Educator's Guide to Food Safety Material

Teaching food safety to our students can help eliminate toxins waiting to attack and weaken our immune systems. Bacteria hides in raw meats, cutting boards, counter tops, sponges and many other household surfaces. Cross-contamination can occur easily, resulting in bacterium-riddled food that can cause illness. Fortunately, there are several techniques that one can use to protect themselves through food safety.

Natural bacteria and toxins are not the only concern when it comes to the importance of food safety. Technological changes, such as the use of pesticides and bioterrorism, result in more hazards to our health. Pesticides can stay in our bodies for years, even after washing, and thrive in our environment while traveling miles by water, dust and wind. Food-borne pathogens can taint the foods that we consume before it even hits our kitchens or Cooktop Parts.

It’s essential to maintain food safety during every aspect before consumption. This includes the washing, preparation and cooking of foods. Cooking foods at the proper temperatures, keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold, help to keep bacteria at bay. Avoid cross-contamination by washing equipment and your hands in hot soapy water before using. Here you will find resources for educators to introduce food safety into their curriculum.

Food Safety Lesson Plans

• Prevent Food-borne Illness: Food Safety to Prevent Food-borne Illness lesson plan and printable student handouts.
• Food Safety Lessons: Here you will find food safety lessons, activities and handouts for elementary, middle and high school students.
• Summer Food Safety: Lesson plan and true/false quiz for grades 6-8 and 9-12 to test students’ knowledge of summer food safety.
• Risks vs Benefits of Food Production: Student lesson plan for grades 4-6 that presents details on food production, additives and food processing.
• Food Safety Spotlights: Here you will find a vast amount of information including activities, preparedness and hazard analysis.
• Food Safety Center of Excellence: The Center of Excellence provides consumers with information on food safety and protection.
• Preservation and Food Safety: Find detailed information on preservation, safe handling of foods, food borne illnesses and food safety in an emergency.
• Food & Restaurant Lesson Plans: List of food and safety related lesson plans and printable PDF file worksheets.
• Healthy Eating and Nutrition Lessons: Fact sheets, articles and student activities on healthy eating and safety for grades K-12.
• Crossword Lesson Plan: Health and nutrition based crossword lesson plan to help present food safety messages.

Food Safety Web Quests

• Food borne Illness Web Quest: Here you will find a web quest that demonstrates the task, process, evaluation and conclusion of food borne illnesses.
• Practices and Procedures: Food safety web quest on understanding and practicing food safety while following food handling techniques.
• Nutrition & Food Safety Web Quest: Learn about the importance of health and food safety directed at grades 6-8.
• Web Quest Food Hunt: Here you will find nutrition information and learn about the food guide pyramid, food labels, and food safety.
• Food Illness Investigation: Web Quest that investigates food borne illnesses, designed for high school students.
• GE Foods Friend or Foe Web Quest: Internet web quest that teaches students about genetically engineered foods.
• Schools Promoting Health: Students and their family learn how to eat and prepare food in a healthy and safe manner.
• Safe Food Lessons: Learn about the dangers of hazardous foods and how to stay safe while washing, preparing and cooking.
• Guide to Health Web Quest: Here you will find lessons on bioterrorism, blood borne pathogens, nutrition, and food safety.
• Food Safety & Sanitation: Students can use this web quest to investigate the food system and food service industry.

Food Safety Activities

• Hand Washing Games and Activities: Elementary students can enjoy these fun hand washing games and activities.
• Food Safety Education: Here you will find food safety education materials and activities for kids and teens.
• Kids and Teens Food Safety: Nutrition information and food safety activities for kids and teenagers.
• Food Safety Activities: Take the safety test to check how safe your kitchen is and try the food and safety word search.
• FBI Detective Activity: Test your kids FDI (food borne illness) detective skills on food safety.
• Kids World Food Safety: Here you will find information on safe BBQs, food safety facts, bad bug book, coloring book and food safety quiz.
• Food Safety Resources for Teachers: Learn about kitchen safety, bacteria, food poisoning, rationing and drying food.
• Fight Bac: Keep Food Safe From Bacteria (BAC) presents food safety kid activities and print-ables.
• Keeping Our Food Safe: Elementary school food safety lesson plans and activities for grades 1-4.
• Nutrition, Safety & Cooking: List of educational materials including PowerPoint’s, handouts, posters and health fair activities.

Food Safety Media Resources

• Food Safety Streaming Videos: Learn the importance of practicing food safety, washing your hands and keeping yourself safe from food borne illnesses.
• Food Safety Music: Here you will find music tracks for general food safety, microbial, health and nutrition and more.
• Videos and Podcasts: Learn about food safety through Federal government agency videos and podcasts.
• Food Safety Videos: List of food safety videos concerning various aspects of safety, such as bird flu, farming and McDonalds.
• Temperature, Cleaning & Health: Here you will find three videos concerning time & temperature, cleaning & sanitizing and health & hygiene.
• Food Safety Basics: Watch food safety videos and learn how to tell when different types of food go bad.
• GM Food Safety Videos: Choose a food safety video from the list about genetically engineered foods.
• Chinese Food Safety: Watch videos, animations and play songs about the importance of food safety when eating out at Chinese restaurants.
• CNN Food Safety News: List of new stories about food safety problems around the world and at popular restaurants.
• Food Facts and Videos: Read through fun food safety facts, such as “how to pack a safer lunch” and watch videos about food labeling and more.