September is

National Food Safety Education Month

2004 Theme: Be Aware as You Prepare.

September is National Food Safety Education Month®, created by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's International Food Safety Council to heighten awareness of the importance of food safety education throughout the restaurant and foodservice industry.

Celebrating National Food Safety Education Month®

In 1994, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's (NRAEF) International Food Safety Council created National Food Safety Education Month® as an annual campaign to heighten the awareness about the importance of food safety education. Each year a new theme and training activities are created for the restaurant and foodservice industry to reinforce proper food safety practices and procedures. Materials to support this year's theme, and materials from past years are accessible on the NRAEF Web site at www.NRAEF.org/nfsem. In addition, promotional materials are available to help make it easier to spread the word about the importance of food safety education and training during the month of September.

September is your opportunity to reinforce proper food safety training and inform everyone that food safety is not an option, but an obligation. Consumers need to know simple steps they can take to prevent foodborne illness. One way is to advise consumers of the four basic messages, Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill. Our theme for this year is Be Aware as You Prepare.

NFSEM® Resources

• Logo Reproduction Instructions
  • Download Logos: JPG (37KB), TIF (6.2 MB), EPS Vector (262KB)
• Sample Public Service Announcements
• Sample Press Release

Ideas to Promote National Food Safety Education Month®

Variety is the key. Activities such as food safety fairs, contests, parades, exhibits, workshops, educational fairs, supermarket tours, or educational materials translated into other languages can all help to make this September a celebration of food safety awareness. This Planning Guide is designed to provide you with the tools you can use to plan for National Food Safety Education Month®.

• Ideas to Promote National Food Safety Education Month®
• Sample Ideas Used by Educators for NFSEM® Observances

Make Local Contacts!

Let the community know about National Food Safety Education Month®. Ask the media to invite the public and cover your event. Make a difference -- this is your opportunity to educate consumers on important food safety practices. To help you, a sample press release and a "ready-to-go" article are included for your local newspaper, as well as public service announcements to take to your local radio and television stations, and as sample logos you can use for letterhead or to personalize your own fact sheets.

Logos/Artwork

National Food Safety Education Month® logos can be used to develop promotional materials such as balloons, bookmarks, magnets, stickers, T-shirts, aprons, etc.

Games and Activities

Use the fun activities, game board, crossword puzzle, and coloring pages in the Guide. The Partnership for Food Safety Education has provided sample materials from two of their educational packages:

• The Family Vacation Game (available in PDF, 1,675 Kb) is from the Fight BAC!® Presenter's Guide for grades K-3.
• The experiments are from Your Game Plan for Food Safety, a Fight BAC!® Teacher's Activity and Experiment Guide. "Soapy Solutions" (also available in PDF) and "There's More Than Meets The Eye" (also available in PDF) are sample experiments designed for children in 4th through 6th grades.

Feel free to distribute these materials at your events. More information about the Partnership's products is available on the Web site at: www.fightbac.org

Resources

Go to www.FoodSafety.gov for more links to timely materials.

Certificate of Appreciation

Make copies of this certificate (available in PDF) and present it to individuals who have participated in National Food Safety Education Month®. Use it for special recognition of invited guests, public officials, community organizations, and other people you would like to thank.