Food Saftey: It's Everyone's Job

On January 23, 2012 about seventy-five people gathered at the Conemaugh Township Fire Company in Tire Hill for a 3-hour workshop titled “Cooking for Crowds: A Volunteer’s Guide to Safe Food Handling.” The workshop was conducted by Sharon McDonald, Nutrition, Health and Food Safety Educator for Penn State Extension and hosted by the Conemaugh Township Fire Company.
Attending were members from 12 different organizations from the Johnstown/Cambria County area. This included fire company members, representatives from many local churches, Boy Scouts and the Grange. A survey of the group indicated that these organizations serve food at about 260 different events over the course of the year to approximately 56,000 people. According to McDonald, about 300 people in Pennsylvania became ill from food served by nonprofits over a 5 year period. Not only can the victims suffer physically and mentally, they can be hit with expensive medical bills resulting in negative publicity for the nonprofits at best – and lawsuits at worst.
The workshop covers the basic causes of a foodborne illness but most importantly steps the organization can take to prevent such an illness from occurring. This involves training of volunteers on the importance of good personal hygiene, preventing cross contamination and controlling time and temperature to keep food safe.
Each organization that participated received a “Cooking for Crowds” manual, thermometers and food safety posters that they can use in their kitchens to continue to promote food safety. One participant said at the end of the workshop, “while much of the information was common sense, it is important to hear it over and over because sometimes we forget and we want to make sure that the food we serve is safe.”
For more information on food safety and food safety trainings contact Sharon McDonald at 814-940-5989 or BlairExt@psu.edu