Iowa State University Extension

Problem:
Each year 76 million people get sick from foodborne ilnesses, 3,000,000+ are hospitalized, 5,000 die and 1,5200,000 to 2,280,000 experience secondary long-term effects. Children age birth through 5 years are a high risk population for foodborne illnesses. Seventy nine percent of the requests for childcare in Iowa are for children in the high risk age group for foodborne illness, making it important to train childcare providers in food safety.

Response:
Nutrition and Health Field Specialist cooperated with Child Care Resource and Referral to offer Don't Give Kids a Tummy Ache programs in the area for childcare providers in 2008 and 2009.

Impact:
To date, 45 childcare providers have attended Don't Give Kids a Tummy Ache. End of meeting evaluations indicate providers will make changes in keeping things clean: wash hands more often, leave sanitizer on surfaces the recomended length of time, get rid of kitchen sponges, use a clean dishcloth daily, clean refrigerator weekly (discarding out of date food or foods past recomended storage period), etc.

They will also make changes related to properly cooking foods and temperature of foods such as: will purchase an instant read thermometer to check food temperatures, will get food home from the store in 1 hour, will thaw meat in the refrigerator.

They will make changes in the area of creating physical barriers to prevent cross-contamination of foods, such as purchasing color coded cutting boards, and they will stop serving "pink" luncheon meats such as bologna that could carry listeria bacteria.

One provider exclaimed at the end of the meeting "I need to go home and change almost everything I do."

Contact:
Patricia Anderson
West Pottawattamie Extension
3501 Harry Langdon Blvd. - Careers Bldg.
Council Bluffs, Iowa
712-366-7070
pander@iastate.edu