Consumer Education Boosts Food Safety

MANHATTAN, Kan.Food safety is everyones responsibilityfrom the producer to the processor to the consumersaid Kansas State University meat scientist James Marsden who believes there is a need to better educate consumers about proper food handling and cooking in order to minimize the risk of foodborne illness.

Ideally, food manufacturers should reduce the risk of foodborne pathogens, even in raw foods to minimize consumer risk, he said. Consumers can certainly reduce that risk further by following safe food-handling practices and proper cooking.

Marsden, who worked in the meat processing industry for many years prior to academia, provided five suggestions for how consumer education could be improved:

Food-safety messages for consumers should be concise, consistent and mindful of reasonable consumer behaviors.

Safe food handling labels should be updated to be product specific and to provide more details. For example, a label for ground beef could include more detail about preventing cross contamination and a recommended minimum cooking temperature.

Because food safety is rarely taught in schools, government and industry food safety education should target younger consumers using Internet-based messages, taking advantage of YouTube, Facebook and other sites frequented by teens and young adults.

Advertisements with food-safety messages should be programmed on the Food Network, using celebrity chefs and familiar actors.

Food-safety messages should be included with product information for appliances and cookware, targeting consumers of all ages.

For raw meat and poultry products, the solution lies with safe foods produced using non-thermal pasteurization technologies, such as UV/Advanced Oxidation technologies and antimicrobial spray treatments, combined with safe preparation and proper cooking, he said. Consumer education can and should play an important role in that solution.