Seniors and Food Safety

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48 million persons get sick and 128,000 are hospitalized from food borne infection and illness in the United States each year. Many of these people are older adults who have weakened immune systems and are at an increased risk for contracting a food borne illness.

In an effort to educate senior adults on nutrition and the importance of food safety, a Healthy Choices for Every Body program was conducted by the Russell County Cooperative Extension Service SNAP-Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) assistant for SNAP eligible individuals in collaboration with the Russell County Senior Center. The Nutrition Education Program assistant conducted monthly sessions, for 10 months, on topics such as food safety, food resource management and food preparation. During the program, participants learned how to improve their overall health by properly handling, preparing and consuming foods, which is imperative to avoid contracting a food borne illness.

The program consisted of 19 participants, 10 male and nine female, ages 60 and over. As a result of the program reports indicated that over half (53%) of the participants wash their hands more often before preparing food, 74% clean items/surfaces more often, 68% thaw frozen food at room temperature less often and 79% use a meat thermometer more often.