The Centers for Disease Control estimates 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases each year in the United States.

The University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Education Agents in Northern Kentucky partnered with the Northern Kentucky District and Three Rivers Health Departments’ sanitarians to stage “Mystery Dinner: The Uninvited Guest” in September 2019. The event was designed to remind and educate participants about safe food handling practices that may help them prevent causing foodborne illness.

Program objectives included:

1. Increase awareness of pathogens that cause foodborne illnesses

2. Encourage the proper use of food thermometers.

3. Reinforce washing hands and surfaces steps to help prevent foodborne illness.  

4. Educate on food label dates and proper food storage.  

One hundred eighty-six adult women and men attended the “Mystery Dinner: The Uninvited Guest”  program.  Extension and health department professionals dressed up as pathogens interacted with program attendees before and during the dinner. Each pathogen handed a card explaining their common causes, symptoms of infection, and typical foods associated to program participants. Participants the visited four educational stations: Cooling and Heating Foods; Thermometer Use and Calibration; Cleaning Food Surfaces and Food; and Food Storage and Labels.

After rotating through the learning stations, participants returned to their table to receive additional mystery information including a line chart of information about who got sick, what they ate, and the time frame of the illnesses for the fictitious outbreak. Using the information from the line charts, the initial scenario, the cards collected from the pathogens, and learning stations, those at each table worked as a team to determine the pathogen and food that caused the fictitious foodborne illness outbreak.

An immediate program evaluation revealed:

170 (98%) now know that raw poultry should not be washed before being cooked

173 (99%) understand the importance of proper cleaning and sanitation of solid surfaces in the kitchen

171 (98%) plan to wash their hands with soap and water at critical times when handling and preparing food items

170 (98%) plan to divide leftovers into smaller, shallow containers to cool them quickly before storing

171 (98%) plan to write the date on foods stored in the refrigerator or freezer

Follow up evaluations were mailed four months later.  Of the 186 surveys mailed, 76 (41%) returned revealed:

46 (61%) now divide leftovers into smaller, shallow containers or cool them quickly before storing

37 (49 %) now label and date leftovers prior to storing while 25

35 (46 %) now use a food thermometer to check product temperatures

53 (70 %) place the refrigerator thermometer they received in their appliance and checked the temperature.