Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Wednesday, September 22, 2010

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The USDA's Food Safety Mobile stressed four ways to keep bacteria at bay.

In the USDA’s Food Safety Discovery Zone, kids at four elementary schools this week learned the four basic steps for fighting bacteria in the kitchen and preventing food-borne illnesses: Clean, separate, cook and chill.

The 40-foot food safety mobile, which is traveling around the country to state fairs, festivals, supermarkets and schools, stopped in Lexington at Southern, Northern, Ashland and Lansdowne, where students rotated through the hands-on stations and picked up goody bags packed with information, coloring books and stickers.

“They’re learning more about food and healthy cooking and eating. I’m hoping they’ll put all these concepts together,” said Ellen Shelton, the Family Resource Center director at Northern Elementary, which is among the Fayette County schools enjoying seasonal produce through the federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.

Northern fourth-grader Nafi Keita certainly connected the dots.

“If you don’t wash your hands and then you touch the food, the bacteria will get in the food you’re eating,” she explained after her class finished the 40-minute session. “You have to clean the meat before you cook it because there might be bacteria in there that’ll make you sick,” she added.

Uniformed officers with the U.S. Public Health Service guided the kids through the interactive lessons. At one stop, students’ hands were sprinkled with a talc powder that glowed under ultraviolet light – illustrating how invisible bacteria can cling to skin that appears and feels clean. So washing with soap for at least 20 seconds (while singing “Happy Birthday”) is the way to go.

The food safety mobile features a brightly colored kitchen complete with sinks, cutting boards, plastic meats and a refrigerator for the various exercises. In one corner, a video introduces different kinds of bacteria using cartoonish characters such as Salmonella, the contagious cowboy, and Miss Listeria, a wicked witch. Nearby is a microscope through which the kids can spy untold numbers of bacteria on the tip of a needle.

Kitchens are not immune to these bacteria, which can flourish on cabinet knobs, faucets, countertops and pet bowls. Cross contamination – for example, sneezing into a hand and then high-fiving a friend – is also a danger.

Besides washing hands and kitchen surfaces, one means to prevent trouble is to separate raw foods, not mixing meats with fruits and vegetables and wiping up spills right away.

“You make sure the food doesn’t touch anything that hasn’t been cleaned,” Nafi said. “You have to separate your food because if you just put it together, the germs can spread to the other.”

Cooking food properly is another way to ensure it is safe to eat. As Nafi learned, a food thermometer is the best way to tell if meat is done. For instance, hamburger needs to heat to an internal temperature of 160 degrees – it doesn’t matter whether it’s still pink or brown.

The kids also found out the importance of knowing the wattage of their microwave at home so they can adjust the suggested cooking time for frozen dinners.

After all this safe preparation, what happens after a meal? That’s when the “chill” factor comes into play. Leftovers should be put away within two hours after cooking – even sooner in the summer or outdoors.

“You have to chill your food so the heat doesn’t mess it up,” as Nafi said.

In addition, the kids learned that a freezer should be set at 0 degrees and a refrigerator below 40 degrees to keep bacteria at bay, and that raw meat should be stored on the bottom shelf in case the juice leaks.

Health advocates hope students will long remember all these helpful tips and share the food safety lessons with their families, too.