ALBUQUERQUE – An estimated one in six Americans gets sick from foodborne illness each year, resulting in approximately 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To help educate the public on food safety practices in the home, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed the Food Safety Discovery Zone, a 40-foot-long multimedia demonstration kitchen on wheels that provides visitors of all ages with fun experiences that teach them how to prevent foodborne illness at home.
New Mexico State University’s Bernalillo County Extension office will host the Food Safety Discovery Zone twice in Albuquerque while the mobile unit is in New Mexico.
The first event will be at the Extension office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at 1510 Menaul Blvd. NW. The second will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, June 3, at the South Valley Multigenerational Community Center, 2008 Larrazolo Road SW.
“We hoping people will take advantage of these events to learn about how they can prevent foodborne illness,” said Cindy Davies, NMSU Bernalillo County Extension director. “The south valley event is an effort to reach seniors and Spanish-speaking people with this information.”
Nutrition and food educators from USDA agencies and NMSU Extension county offices will teach visitors how to prevent foodborne illness by emphasizing four easy lessons: clean, separate, cook, chill.
“Protecting families’ food from foodborne illness and ensuring that they know how to protect themselves remains a top priority for the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, the sponsor of this traveling program,” Davies said.
The Albuquerque events are part of four stops in New Mexico during the discovery zone’s national tour. The Food Safety Discovery Zone will be at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis on Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29, and at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque on Saturday and Sunday, June 4 and 5.
To learn more about food safety practices, visit www.FoodSafety.gov or call the USDA Food Safety Hotline at 888-674-6854. Families can also access “Ask Karen,” an online database of answers to specific questions related to preventing foodborne illnesses at www.askkaren.gov.
Information from NMSU