Handwashing advice, guidelines, training, and even the science, is available from a plethora of sources. The answer to sustainable gains in handwashing compliance is buried in decades of endeavors, some reported but most are confined to frustrated frontline supervisors. The new CFI/OSU-Handwashing For Life® partnership seeks to leverage available resources by taking the science and splicing in the mission-critical labor force factors. This “missing-link” graphic strives to visually summarize the handwashing resource situation and applied-science solution. We have the science, technology a ..read more

My favorite fall recipe is, of course, something pumpkin. Fall is always the season that brings my family together. From pumpkin carving to thanksgiving, and lots of little things in between, each of my fall events will probably involve pumpkin bread. Don’t be fooled by the name - pumpkin bread is basically cake and is the perfect dessert to pair with your favorite warm beverage. Pumpkin bread is pretty simple, but even the simplest of recipes can present an opportunity for foodborne illness. Check out the steps below for more! 1- 16 oz can Pumpkin (solid, packed) 1. Wash hands with soap ..read more

Food has always been a major part of my life. Like many people, some of my first memories involve the foods I was eating in those moments. From enjoying piles of oven-baked dinosaur chicken nuggets and tater tots at home, to spending my dad’s weekly day off running through a drive-thru for a hamburger. These first memories, while positive, did not always contain the most healthful food choices. Giving more thought to the health content of my foods did not come to me until later in life after being introduced to healthy eating, cooking, and nutrition science in an elective class I took in high ..read more

More Americans are now seeking a healthy lifestyle and finding easy ways to engage with meal preparation. As part of a healthy diet, fresh fruits and vegetables are needed for your body to get essential nutrients and prevent chronic diseases. Leafy greens (including lettuce, spinach, kale, etc.), especially those in packaged salads, have become popular since they are easy to incorporate into healthy meals. Most packaged salads commonly say: “Triple washed,” “Thoroughly washed,” or “Ready to eat,” which makes consumers feel safe about eating the leafy greens. However, some of them have bee ..read more

In May 2022 the FDA issued a recall for powdered infant formula made in Sturgis, Michigan. The products recalled included Similac, Alimentum and EleCare. For the most current information about the recall, please visit the FDA’s website or click on this . The outbreak is considered closed, but the FDA and CDC are continuing to update information regarding their investigation after the recall and ways to prevent future outbreaks.  As we learned with this most recent infant powdered formula outbreak, products we think may be the safest still have risk. This reminds us the risk of foodborne i ..read more

On May 2, 2022, I landed in South Korea, ahead of the US Eastern Standard Time Zone by about 11 hours. I do not speak Korean, nor am I well versed in Hangul, but it didn’t make me want to go any less and visit my close friend who resides there. Korean is the primary language spoken, as is to be expected. And although it is becoming more common, not everyone speaks English, since all Koreans aren’t afforded the same opportunity to attend English academies as young children. I was a little anxious, yes, but excited. The pandemic had previously uprooted my plans to study abroad in Spain two years ..read more

It is common in the New Year to make a resolution to eat healthier. This may include incorporating foods into your diet that you have not cooked with or eaten before. Maybe you want to meal prep the night before for the next day. Improper handling of food can lead to an increased risk of foodborne illness. There are four steps you can take to reduce your risk of getting sick from the healthy food you are preparing this New Year: clean, separate, cook, and chill. Clean: wash your hands and the counter Hand washing may seem monotonous, but it is important. Wash your hands with soap and water for ..read more

Climate change and food safety are two issues that affect all of us.  We rely on our food to be nutritious and free from anything that could cause harm, such as pathogens. One factor that can influence food safety is climate change which causes long-term changes in weather patterns. As temperatures increase, pathogens like bacteria, fungi, and protozoa are more likely to cause contamination due to more favorable growth conditions, leading to illness. Increased frequency of heat waves will also affect food safety, as it will become more difficult to keep foods like meat and dairy cold thro ..read more

I was accepted to Capella University's Master of Public Health program in the spring of 2020 – it was the final day of classes before Covid-19 would shut down the Ohio State campus for the remainder of the semester. It felt like a sigh of relief to know that my next step was in place and was already designed to be completed entirely online. There wouldn't be any on-the-fly adaptation to the new virtual way of academia; this is exactly how the course was built to function. What I wasn't prepared for was the most nerve-wracking portion of my entire degree – securing a practicum in the middle of ..read more

In the past, food safety and nutrition were generally not considered jointly, but were managed as two separate issues. That separation can lead to less-than-optimal decision making. There is a new interest in building a decision-making framework that includes both nutrition and food safety jointly, with the intent of improving health outcomes. One issue in which food safety and nutrition are relevant is seafood consumption during pregnancy. Due to mercury contamination in most bodies of water and therefore in the aquatic food chain, federal guidance asks pregnant women to limit their consumpti ..read more