Don't Let After-School Activities Take Food Safety Off the Menu

Don't Let After-School Activities Take Food Safety Off the Menu: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Offers Food Safety Tips

8/27/2013

Media Contacts: Ryan O'Malley, Allison MacMunn
media@eatright.org

CHICAGO – As children head back to school and families gear up for busy schedules packed with after-school activities, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics encourages families to reduce their risk of food poisoning with food safety tips from the Home Food Safety program – a collaboration between the Academy and ConAgra Foods.

"Hectic after-school activities can leave students with little time to eat, let alone worry about food safety," said registered dietitian nutritionist and Academy Spokesperson Deborah Beauvais. "Whether reheating dinner or packing after-school snacks, set your student up for success with a few simple safety steps."

Reheating dinner

"Between soccer practice, music lessons and other after-school activities, your children may be home late for dinner, and you may find yourself reheating dinner once, twice or even three times in an evening," Beauvais said. "If you're saving dinner for later, make sure you properly refrigerate and reheat the leftovers."

If you’re saving dinner for latecomers, remember:
Leftovers should never sit at room temperature for longer than two hours.
Instead of leaving dinner on the stove before reheating, store it in the fridge (set at 40°F or below according to a refrigerator thermometer) until family members are home and ready to eat.
Leftovers should be reheated to 165°F. A food thermometer is the only reliable way to ensure safety and determine the doneness of cooked foods.

Fueling up between school and after-school activities

For kids with activities directly after school, chances are they'll need a boost of nutrition before they begin practice and sport activities. Be sure to choose snacks that are still safe to eat at the end of the school day.

"As a general rule of thumb, foods should not sit out unrefrigerated for more than two hours; in hot weather, 90 degrees Fahrenheit or above, the time is reduced to one hour," Beauvais said.

When sending kids to school with an after-school snack when a refrigerator isn’t available, Beauvais recommends packing nourishing, shelf-stable foods, such as:

  Breads/grains: Single-serving boxes of whole-wheat cereal, trail mix, energy bars, granola bars, cereal bars, whole-wheat bagels and popcorn without added butter

  Fruits and vegetables: Carrot and celery sticks and other cut-up raw vegetables, grapes, single-serve applesauce, washed whole fruit (apples, peaches, bananas), dried fruit mix and 100-percent juice boxes

  Meat and other protein sources: Cans of tuna, peanut butter (for sandwiches or with celery and apples), nuts and single-serve packages of peanut butter and whole-wheat crackers.

Teach your children to carefully wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before eating or handling food. Include a packet of moist towelettes in your child’s lunch to serve as a friendly reminder to clean up before lunchtime.

For more tips on reducing your risk of food poisoning, visit www.HomeFoodSafety.org, which includes tips on lunchbox safety,reheating dinner and leftover safety and educational activities for kids such as the handwashing maze.

The Home Food Safety program also offers the free Is My Food Safe? mobile app, which includes a kitchen safety quiz, safe cooking temperatures and a guide for shelf-life of foods.

For media interviews with registered dietitian nutritionists, contact media@eatright.org.

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All registered dietitians are nutritionists – but not all nutritionists are registered dietitians. The Academy’s Board of Directors and Commission on Dietetic Registration have determined that those who hold the credential registered dietitian (RD) may optionally use “registered dietitian nutritionist” (RDN) instead. The two credentials have identical meanings.

The Home Food Safety program is dedicated to raising consumer awareness about the seriousness of food poisoning and providing solutions for easily and safely handling food in their own kitchens. The program is a collaborative effort between the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, and ConAgra Foods, Inc., the largest private brand packaged food business in North America, and a strong commercial and foodservice business. More information about the Home Food Safety program can be found at HomeFoodSafety.org.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Academy is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy.

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Highlights
Free Resources to Help Reduce Food Poisoning Risk

In Light of Recent Food Poisoning Outbreaks, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Highlights Free Resources to Help Reduce Food Poisoning Risk

CHICAGO – Food poisoning causes 48 million illnesses in the U.S. each year, and most recently more than 300 Midwesterners were sickened by an outbreak of cyclospora, a foodborne pathogen. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics encourages everyone to reduce their risk with simple safety steps from www.HomeFoodSafety.org and by downloading the free Is My FoodSafe? mobile app.

“While there are no guarantees in life, you can drastically reduce your risk of food poisoning with a few simple safety steps, from washing your hands and produce to cooking meats to a safe minimum internal temperature,” said registered dietitian nutritionist and Academy Spokesperson Libby Mills.

The Academy’s award-winning HomeFoodSafety.org website and Is My Food Safe? mobileapp are free resources provided by the Home Food Safety program - a collaboration between the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and ConAgra Foods. Since the launch of the app in August 2012, it has already been downloaded 20,000 times on Apple and Android devices.

“You can’t rely upon color, taste or smell alone to determine if a food is safe to eat,” Mills said. “The Is My Food Safe? app is a great tool for identifying expired foods and safely cooking pretty much any type of meat: hamburgers, pork, chicken, game meat and even exotic meats and poultry.”

“Don’t let your health and the health of your guests be determined by guesswork in food preparation and storage,” Mills said. “This app should be your number-one companion in the kitchen, offering simple home food safety steps that can reduce your risk.”

The Is My Food Safe? app consists of the following sections:
  • ·        IS IT DONE YET? Check the safe minimum internal cooking temperature for meats and more.
  • ·        TIME TO TOSS? Learn essential information on how long you can keep leftovers.
  • ·        QUIZ: IS MY KITCHEN SAFE? Test your knowledge of kitchen safety and see what grade your kitchen receives.
  • ·        ASK AN EXPERT Find out more about food safety from registered dietitian nutritionists—the food and nutrition experts.


According to registered dietitian Barbara Ivens, senior nutrition director at ConAgra Foods, the app is especially useful for those who are more vulnerable to the effects of food poisoning.

“Certain populations may be at far greater risk of developing serious illness with long-term effects, making safe food preparation even more important for these high-risk groups or those preparing foods for them.”

Ivens said those at greater risk includes infants; young children; pregnant women and their unborn babies; older adults and those with weakened immune systems and chronic illness such as diabetes and kidney disease; those with HIV/AIDS and some cancer patients.

For more tips on reducing your risk of food poisoning while preparing foods safely in the kitchen, at the grill or even in the office, visit www.HomeFoodSafety.org.
For media interviews with registered dietitian nutritionists, contact media@eatright.org.
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All registered dietitians are nutritionists – but not all nutritionists are registered dietitians. The Academy’s Board of Directors and Commission on Dietetic Registration have determined that those who hold the credential registered dietitian (RD) may optionally use “registered dietitian nutritionist” (RDN) instead. The two credentials have identical meanings.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and ConAgra Foods’ Home Food Safety program is dedicated to raising consumer awareness about the seriousness of food poisoning and providing solutions for easily and safely handling food in their own kitchens. More information can be found at www.homefoodsafety.org

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Academy is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. To locate a registered dietitian in your area, visit the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics at www.eatright.org.



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