U.S. Food and Drug Administration / Center for Food Safety and
 Applied Nutrition / May 1999
Faces
Seniors and
Food Safety

Preventing Foodborne Illness

 
Contents
Introduction
What is Foodborne Illness?
Why are Seniors At-Risk for Foodborne Illness?
What's a Senior to Eat?
To Market, To Market
Four Simple Steps to Preparing Food at Home
Eating Out & Bringing Food Home
Taking Care of Infants and Young Children
Can Your Kitchen Pass the Food Safety Test?
Additional Links for Seniors
Full Document in PDF Format (488 Kb)
INTRODUCTION

A Lifetime of Experience
and Changes

Let's face it.
Seniors have a lifetime of experience shopping, preparing and eating food. Fortunately, Americans enjoy one of the safest most healthful food supplies in the world.

But a lot has changed over that lifetime—from the way food is produced and distributed, to the way it is prepared and eaten. What is also changing is your ability to fight-off dangerous bacteria that may invade your body through the food you eat.

The good news is that well-known saying

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"
remains true. From the farm to the table, preventing the growth of foodborne bacteria is the key to reducing the millions of illnesses and thousands deaths each year.

To learn more about foodborne illness, understand why the changes in food production and food distribution are requiring consumers to take extra care when handling food, and to test your knowledge of safe food handling and food selection, read on. There is also information on food safety for young children, which may be important to you if you take care of young family members for day, a weekend, or full-time.

Additional information on Who Protects the Food Supply.

Next: What is Foodborne Illness?


 
running faucet Clean separate cutting boards for meats and vegetables Separate thermometer Cook refrigerator Chill

FDA/Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, May 1999
Developed in cooperation with AARP
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