Spreading Food Safety Awareness in Schools - Research Proposal Example

Spreading Food Safety Awareness in Schools: A Review of Literature Introduction The dictum “we are what we eat” cannot be gainsaid. It is true that people’s nutritional status, physical status, health and mental faculties depend on the food they eat and how they eat it (Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, n.d.). Along the same line, food safety is basic requirement of the quality of food. Food safety means that food has an acceptable level of contaminants, naturally occurring toxins, adulterants or any other substances that may make the food harmful on an acute or chronic basis. Food quality is a complex characteristic of food that determines the food’s value or acceptability to consumers. In addition to food safety, quality attributes encompass nutritional value, functional properties, and organoleptic properties such as colour, appearance, taste and texture (FAO, n.d.). It is regrettable that the general population’s awareness of food safety is very low (James et al, p. 107). It is for this reason that there are many problems associated with food preparation and use. For instance, in the United States alone the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that each year, over 76 million people suffer from food-borne illnesses. Consequently there are about 325,000 cases of hospitalisation and about 5000 deaths each year. Some of the reported cases are mild while others result in death. The financial implications of this in terms of lost wages, lawsuits and medical bill are as high as $8.5 billion per year (The University of Rhode Island, 2010, p. iv). This paper reviews the issue of food safety with particular focus on school going children and teens. Often times the interests of children and teens in this field have been ignored. Nonetheless, it is important to guide children and teens on food safety so that they can apply the same knowledge in the future. According to Eves and others (2006, p. 707), “schools are acknowledged as important places for developing health promotion and influencing health-related behaviours.” The paper thus reviews a number of questions, which are used to build a literature review of the topic. Research questions 1. Do children and teens have the basic food-handling knowledge and skills? 2. Is the curriculum well equipped to impart the knowledge required on food safety? 3. What are the obstacles to gaining knowledge of safe food-handling practices? 4. Are school children and teens aware of the common food-borne illnesses? 5. Are school children aware of food poisoning? 6. Can school children suffer illnesses from the foods they prepare on their own? 7. Is it important for school children and teens to learn about food safety? 8. What can be done to remove the obstacles to imparting knowledge on food safety to school children and teens? 9. What is the role of educators in removing the obstacles mentioned above? Literature review 1. Do children and teens have the basic food safety skills? Generally, food safety in schools is very low. Many schools rely on food programmes funded by governments and purchases that are relatively cheaper to feed their children. For instance, in the United States, a firm called Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Company had to recall more than 143 million pounds of beef intended to be sold over a two year-period (Brown, 2010, p.1). Before the recall, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had purchased both beef and peanut products from the company for school meal programmes and distributed them as a federally-offered commodity to states to serve in school meals and snacks. Schools also bought the recalled beef and possibly the peanut products commercially. Although there were no illnesses attributed to the beef, 700 people were reported to be sickened from consuming peanut products, of which a third were school-aged children in the bracket of 5 to 18 years (Brown, 2010, p. 1). This shows how vulnerable school children are to food that is supplied to them in school. They are likely to consume anything that is brought to them because they are not aware of what is good or bad for them. According to Satin (2008, p. 145), food safety and nutrition have been regarded a really interesting topic for the public. This has contributed to the low level of food safety awareness as most media are dedicated to other programmes, and rarely have adequate time to enlighten the public on cooking and eating. 2. Is the curriculum well equipped to impart the knowledge required on food safety? There is a common trend that little attention is paid to children and teens’ understanding of the knowledge and skills of safe food handling. Recent changes in educational systems have also impacted this as there has been a reduction or elimination of courses related to consumer sciences over the years (Byrd-Bredbenner, Abbot & Quick, 2010, p. 19). This means that more children and teens are at risk of encountering food safety problems due to lack of knowledge. Additionally, opportunities for children to learn safe food-handling techniques through observation have ebbed as more mothers have taken jobs outside their homes, leading to an increase in the reliance on fully or partially pre-prepared convenience foods. In the United Kingdom, the 1990s school curriculum removed most elements of practical food education. This incensed the Department of Health as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that they supported a project to re-introduce cooking into schools (Griffiths & Wallace, 1998, p. 2). In spite of this, the effectiveness of the programme still needs to be monitored. This shows that increasing awareness of food safety among children and teens needs to start right from schools as schools take most of the child’s activity time. 3. What are the obstacles to gaining knowledge of safe food-handling practices? Youn and Sneed (2002) conducted a research to determine the perceived barriers to implementing food safety practices in school food service in Iowa, the United States. They found that only 22 percent of the participating school districts had a detailed Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) in place. This indicates that school food service managers need to put more effort in creating HACCP awareness in schools. Youn and Sneed (2002) note that school food service directors identified money and time as the key barriers to spreading knowledge of safe food handling. Thus, food service directors need to assess how funds for food are allocated for food safety as well as HACCP because it is a critical health and safety issue. Other challenges to food safety awareness in schools include the complex interactions of the populations with environmental, socioeconomic and cultural factors. As new foods and those from alternative sources become readily available, new openings for transmission of food-borne diseases usually follow (James et al, 2007). Yet these new challenges are not addressed with new food safety awareness campaigns in schools. Another hindrance to food safety awareness in schools is the manner in which meals for school children are prepared. For instance, in the United States more than 27 million children get their lunch through the National School Lunch Programme. This means that food is prepared in school by food service staff or is taken into the school environment from vendors as well as the homes of staff and students. Hence, school children are most of the times not included in the programmes, implying that they have to make do with what is prepared for them. It is in view of this that the CDC (2010) recommends a comprehensive approach to ensure food safety in schools. 4. Are school children and teens aware of the common food borne illnesses? Many children are aware of the common food-borne diseases. This stems from the fact that many parents are aware of the dangers involved in handling packed foods for their children. In the United Kingdom, about 60 percent of school children eat packed lunches on a regular basis. Most parents of these children are aware of the potential food safety hazards associated with their child’s lunchbox. One significant risk is poor temperature control during the time the food stays in the lunchbox. In spite of this, parents do not take necessary steps to manage the risk (Hudson, 2011). In a research conducted by Byrd-Bredbenner, Abbot and Quick (2010, p. 21), youth overwhelmingly answered “yes” to a question that sought know whether they were aware that food would make them sick. Many youth are aware of the fact that food can be contaminated due to different causes. Such include pathogen related cases such as germs, bacteria, mould, fungus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella; toxin-related contaminants such as mercury in fish; and allergy-related cases such as consumption of an allergenic food. Other food safety problems that are well known by youth include cooking skill-related problems such as improper cooking, burning food and so forth; food quality-related problems such as greasy food, poor food texture and unpleasant smell; and miscellaneous problems such as presence of bugs in food and eating meals too quickly (Byrd-Bredbenner, Abbot & Quick (2010, p. 21-22). 5. Are school children aware of food poisoning? It can be noted that many youth are school children and youth are aware of food poisoning as they understand that it is related to personal illness, poor food handling, insufficient cooking, cross contamination, or storage among other possibilities (Eves et al, 2006, p. 711). Along the same line, pupils in Northern Ireland reported a high level of awareness about food poisoning, but this does not necessarily imply that the knowledge was always translated into self-reported implementation of desirable behaviour. Even then, 96 percent and 98 percent of the pupils in the age groups 7-9 years and 10-11 years respectively correctly noted that it was most important to wash hands before touching food. The pupils were also aware of the basic points to consider when storing and washing food, working with food, and important ideas about helping others to remember food hygiene (Eves et al, 2006, p. 711). 6. Can school children suffer illnesses from the foods they prepare on their own? Parents have mixed feelings about their own children having to prepare the food they eat. Those who think that their children are at risk do so because they believe that the children might be engaged in unsafe behaviour such as not washing hands before eating and not washing foods such as fruits before they eat them (Byrd-Bredbenner, Abbot & Quick, 2010, p. 25). Children are more at risk of the foods they prepare incorrectly because they are more susceptible to food-borne illnesses. Nevertheless, because children are more likely to have foods prepared by others for them, this puts them at more risk because they have “limited control” of the foods they take (Buzby, 2001, p. 32). On the other hand, some parents are of the view that children preparing their own food are not at risk because they feel that the children are well informed about safe food handling procedures (Byrd-Bredbenner, Abbot & Quick, 2010, p. 25). But that may only be true if the parents taught the same to their children – that is if the children are in deed in a position to differentiate safe food from unsafe food, or if the children usually have access to only some types of food. For instance, some parents only allow children to prepare and serve foods that need reheating. What is not clear however is whether the children adhere to the correct procedures of reheating foods. 7. Is it important for school children and teens to learn about food safety? It is very important for school children and teens to learn about food safety because of the risks associated with poor handling and preparing food. For instance, they need to be informed that food-borne illness do not just occur in the cafeteria. Specifically, the children and teens should be informed that other school facilities and school events can be associated with food-borne illnesses, and that food brought from home can also contribute to food-borne diseases (CDC, n.d.). It is important for learners to be informed about food safety because of the concerns associated with poor food preparation and handling. Importantly, learners have diverse views about food safety – most middle school students slightly agree that they can prevent food-borne illnesses and most think that they are not susceptible to food-borne illnesses (Byrd-Bredbenner, Abbot & Quick, 2010, p. 25). It is this ignorance that makes many students to ignore important food handling steps such as washing food and washing hands before eating. According to the CDC (n.d.), 71 percent of middle school students in the United States seldom wash hands before eating at school or at a restaurant while 27 percent seldom wash hands before handling food or consuming food at home. 8. What can be done to remove the obstacles to imparting knowledge on food safety to school children and teens? Learners should be involved in more practical solutions to the problem of food safety awareness. There are many programmes dealing with this. First is the eatwell plate that shows the type, amounts and proportions of food that learners should eat to stay healthy. The model is accompanied by eight guidelines for eating well (Food in Schools, 2011). The second programme is the food route. This is designed to help young people gain important knowledge and skills regarding food. The food route resources are split into primary school and secondary school resources to cater for the needs of young children and middle school students (Food in Schools, 2011). 9. What is the role of educators in removing the obstacles mentioned above? Educators need to understand the different needs of learners before venturing into food safety awareness. For instance, they must know the needs of students with disabilities. Importantly, they must emphasize the four food safety principles; that is, clean, separate, cook and chill. The goals of educators should be to provide consumers with details and resources to assist them in reducing the risk of food-borne diseases (The University of Rhode Island, 2010). According to Robertson (2009, p. 354), teachers who are planning and preparing meals for children should be charged with the primary task of preventing food-borne illness by ensuring food safety. This involves teaching about proper food purchasing, storage, handling, as well as cooking and doing the same in practice. In addition, the practices and strategies for providing food safety and prevention of food-borne diseases should be carefully monitored. Conclusion The literature review has offered answers to a number of questions regarding food safety awareness in school. Emerging issues include the fact that food safety awareness is not so widespread in schools, and that children young children and middle aged teens are still at risk of contracting food-borne illnesses. It is also evident that many children and teens are not in control of what they eat as most meals are prepared for them. Hence food safety campaigns need to emphasise more on the need for better food handling practices including HACCP. Importantly, even if school children and teens are not directly involved in the preparation of food, they should be informed of the basic principles that pertain to the quality of food; that is clean, separate, cook and chill. Awareness in these areas should definitely lead to a reduction in cases of food-borne illnesses in schools. References Brown, K.E. 2010, School Meal Programs: Changes to Federal Agencies’ Procedures Could Reduce Risk of School Children Consuming Recalled Food, DIANE Publishing, New York. Buzby, J.C. 2001, “Children and microbial food-borne illness,” FoodReview, Vol. 24, Issue 2, pp. 32-37, Available from http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/FoodReview/May2001/FRV24I2f.pdf (6 March 2011). Byrd-Bredbenner, C., Abbot, J. M. & Quick, V. 2010, “Food safety knowledge and beliefs of middle school children: implications for food safety educators,” Journal of Food Science Education, Vol. 9, pp. 19-30, Available from http://bvs.panalimentos.org/local/File/JFSE_Food_Safety_knowledge_Beliefs_Meddle_School_Children_Implications_food_safety_educators.pdf (6 March 2011). CDC 2010, “Food safety,” Available from http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/foodsafety/index.htm (6 March 2011). CDC, not dated, “The importance of food-safe schools,” Available from http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/foodsafety/pdf/importance_fss_de.pdf (6 March 2011). Eves, A., Bielby, G., Egan, B., Lumbers, M., Raats, M. & Adams, M. 2006, “Food hygiene knowledge and self-reported behaviours of UK school children (4-14 years), British Food Journal, Vol. 108, No. 9, pp. 706-720 (6 March 2011). FAO, not dated., “The importance of food quality and safety for developing countries,” available from http://www.fao.org/trade/docs/LDC-foodqual_en.htm (6 March 2011). Food in Schools 2011, Food in Schools Transition, Food in Schools – Primary Resources. Griffiths, S. & Wallace, J. (eds) 1998, Consuming Passions: Food in the Age of Anxiety, Manchester University Press ND, Manchester. Hudson, P.K. 2011, “Food safety issues and children's lunchboxes,” Available from http://rsh.sagepub.com/content/129/2/77.short (6 March 2011). James, D., Ababouch, L., Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Washington, S. 2007, Sixth World Congress on Seafood Safety, Quality and Trade: 14-16 September 2005 Sydney, Australia, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Washington. James, J. 2007, “ACP Science and the Global Food Safety Challenge,” available from http://knowledge.cta.int/en/Dossiers/Demanding-Innovation/Food-safety/Articles/ACP-Science-and-the-Global-Food-Safety-Challenge (5 March 2011). Robertson, C. 2009, Safety, Nutrition and Health in Early Education (4th edition), Cengage Learning, New York. Satin, M. 2008, Food Alert!: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Food Safety (2nd edition). Infobase Publishing, London. The University of Rhode Island 2010, “Food Safety Education for High School and Transition Special Needs Students,” March 2010, The University of Rhode Island. Youn, S. & Sneed, J. 2002, “Training and Perceived Barriers to Implementing Food Safety Practices in School Foodservice,” The Journal of Child Nutrition & Management, Issue 2, Fall 2002. Read More