The term “food safety” refers to handling, preparing and storing food in a way to best reduce the risk of individuals becoming sick from foodborne illnesses and help to make sure that our food keeps enough nutrients for us to have a healthy diet. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potential health hazards.  The Mason County Nutrition Education Program Assistant (EFNEP) worked with a group of eleven (11) adults to help alleviate this problem.  Using the Healthy Choices for Every Body curriculum, participants were taught shopping wisely for food, keeping food safe, and other core nutrition lessons.

As a result of the classes, seventy-three (73%) of participants showed improvement in one or more food safety practices. Forty-five (45%) wash their hands more often before preparing food, 78% thaw frozen food at room temperature less often and 60% use a meat thermometer more often.

One student had this to say about the class, “This class has helped me learn how to prepare healthier foods in a safer way. I’ve learned something new from every session.”