Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
EVERY FOUR YEARS, FOOD SAFETY EDUCATORS MEET TO
SHARE IDEAS, AT A CONFERENCE HOSTED BY USDA,
NSF INTERNATIONAL AND OTHERS.
THE THEME OF THIS YEAR'S CONFERENCE IN ATLANTA WAS
"ADVANCEMENTS IN FOOD DAFETY EDUCATION: TRENDS,
TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES," WITH A FOCUS ON HOW SOCIAL
MEDIA CHANNELS ARE CHANGING THE GAME.
Jerold Mande, : It's easy to trivialize social media,
but for food safety education it is
potentially revolutionary.
No doubt you've heard the buzz about Facebook,
Twitter, and YouTube.
Consumers are using these social media tools both to
network and to get information.
Bryce Quick : Our food safety education staff has done a
remarkable job with the introduction of Ask Karen.
It's an interactive tool, now.
USDA'S ASK KAREN DOT GOV WEBSITE LET'S FOLKS CHAT
LIVE WITH A FOOD SAFETY EXPERT, OR GET AN
AUTOMATED ANSWER.
WEB-BASED WAYS TO SHARE INFORMATION LIKE THIS ONE
ARE BECOMING VITAL TO PUBLIC HEALTH, ACCORDING
TO CONFERENCE SPEAKERS.
Carolyn O'Neil: It's not "new media" anymore,
I think we have to put that term behind us.
It is really the "now" media.
So many questions must be answered by the best
science and you have the best science: Clean,
Separate, Cook, Chill - great take home messages.
Pat O'Leary (stand-up): This is the
fourth major food safety education conference
sponsored by USDA and partners, but it's also
the largest.
Organizers say the conference keeps growing
in size, and that says something about the topic
of food safety.
Stan Hazen, NSF International: It's front
and center, with respect to the media, with respect
to the regulators, with respect to industry.
Stephanie Davis: We need more information.
There's a need for training, there's a need
to educate our clinicians as well as others.
I think there's a need to educate the public and get
the word out there.
Frank Yiannas: Food safety is truly a shared responsibility
that's shared along the entire food system.
We're doing all that we can to reduce food safety
risk early in the food production chain,
certainly within our stores and certainly
helping consumers become educated on the important
role they play.
IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FOR THE US DEPT OF AGRICULTURE,
I'M PAT O'LEARY