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Cornell University presented, "Food Safety Education:  The value of K-12 education and outreach to advancing the development of future food safety leaders," at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the International Association for Food Protection.  The meeting was held in Charlotte, North Carolina from July 18-31, 2013.  Please see the abstract below:

Abstract: Foodborne illnesses continue to pose a substantial public health burden in the United States and around the world.  One persistent contributing problem is a relatively poor level of food safety "knowledge" in the population at-large.  To address this, there is a clear need to expand existing food safety education and awareness programs, and to establish new ones.  However, this cannot be done without a critical mass of food safety professionals.  Unfortunately, career and educational opportunities in food safety are largely unrecognized by K-12 students, meaning that many students come to food safety relatively late in their academic training.  The purpose of this symposium is to highlight innovative approaches to engaging future food safety professionals by targeting K-12 populations.  The symposium will kick off with four presentations on different strategies used recently to reach this important pool of future food safety professionals followed by a presentation describing USDA-NIFA priorities for food safety outreach and conclude with a roundtable discussion.  Attendees will come away with an understanding of why it is important to include food safety education in K-12 curricula and how engaging K-12 students can help grow the population of food safety professionals around the world.  

Cornell University hosted the 4-H Career Explorations Food Science: DNA Fingerprinting again this past summer.  This 2.5 day workshop for high school students was held June 25-27, 2013 on the Cornell Campus.

Cornell Food Science at the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School Science Fair:  Graduate students and staff from Cornell University's Department of Food Science hosted a booth for the science fair at an Ithaca, NY elementary school on February 1st, 2013.  Cornell University's Food Science booth engaged approximately 300 students from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade in interactive educational activities focusing on food safety and food science.
The Cornell University Food Safety Laboratory partnered with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County and 4-H Camp Bristol Hills to provide week long food science and food safety program as part of the 4-H Camp Bristol Hills during summer 2013.  Educational activities focused on the nature of science, dairy product development, and a simulated outbreak investigation.  The 4-H Food Science Camp provided over 16 hours of hands-on educational activities in the areas of chemistry, biology, microbiology, and geographic information systems and landscape ecology.  A university professor and graduate student engaged campers in experiments and case studies where they discovered, modeled, and compared the chemical interactions between ingredients in ice cream, butter and cheese; reconstructed the structure of DNA; practiced the steps of an outbreak investigation during a mock "food-borne disease outbreak;" and developed solutions to minimize the risk of future outbreaks.

NC State partnered with North Carolina Central University's BRITE Futures program to present a norovirus learning module to 25 high school students on July 24, 2013.  The BRITE Futures program collaborates with educational leaders from universities and K-12 teachers to foster North Carolina's understanding of scientific concepts and skills.

North Carolina A&T State University hosted a four-week Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) for current or rising high school juniors and seniors during summer 2013. The main objective of this program is to provide first-hand experience in several research projects. This year a total of five students participated in the food microbiology and safety laboratory at North Carolina A &T State University, and conducted the following projects.
1.    Impact of gums on the growth of Lactobacillus strains – Naim Rutledge
2.    The Growth of Lactic Acid Bacteria in a Sweet Potato base Medium-Devin Mack
3.    Interaction between Bifidobacteria Strains and Medical Drugs- Jade Steele
4.    Effects of Origanox and Sodium Lactate on the Fate and Survival of E. coli O157:H7 and Sensory Characteristics of Cig Kofte-Derrick Cotton
5.    Impact of medical drugs on the enzymatic activity of human gut natural flora- Kendall Mack

North Carolina A&T State University held a food safety event at Overhills High School on September 26th, 2013. Twenty to forty students attended the following presentations:

Presentations:
Practicing Food Safety - Bernice Karlton-Senaye

Microbiology - Saeed Hayek

Contaminants in Food - Rabin Gyawali

Food Biotechnology - Temmytayo Abanla

Nutrition - Amira Ayad

Food Defense - Desarae Johnson

The food microbiology and safety laboratory at North Carolina A&T State University conducted two Food Safety and Technology workshops at Southern Lee High School (2301 Tramway road, Sanford, NC 27332) on May 29th, 2013.  Please contact Salam Ibrahim for more information.  The following presentations were given:
First Group

• Key to Food Safety - Bernice Karlton-Senaye
• Food Defense - Marcella cheek-crook
• Food Labeling and Nutrition - Rabin Gyawali

Second Group

• Introduction to Bacteria - Amira Ayad
• Food Safety and Consumer Protection - Saeed Hayek
• Food Safety - Temmytayo Abanla

North Carolina A&T State University held a 3 hour food safety workshop for Lincoln Academy middle school students on February 21st, 2013.  The following presentations were given:

Salam Ibrahim:  Introduction

Bernice Karlton-Senaye:  How Do You Keep Food Safe?

Saeed Hayek:  Why Food Safety?

Rabin Hyawali:  Demonstrations of Microbiology (food quality)

The food microbiology and safety laboratory at North Carolina A&T State University conducted two Food Safety and Biotechnology workshops at Guilford Middle School on May 17th, 2013.  The following gave presentations:
First Group

• So You Want to Keep Your Food Safe? - Bernice Karlton-Senaye
• Food Labeling and Nutrition - Rabin Gyawali
• Chemical Contaminations in Food - Madhavi Hathurusinghe

Second Group

• Food Safety and Consumer Protection - Saeed Hayek
• Introduction to Bacteria - Amira Ayad
• Demonstration (measure of pH of different food, quality control and microbial quality of food products) - Temmytayo Abanla