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Ministers go back to school with food safety message
29/11/1999
A new food hygiene education pack for secondary schools throughout Scotland will help young people adopt good food safety habits for life and help reduce the risk of food poisoning.
That is the joint aims of Scottish Health and Community Care Minister Susan Deacon and Minister for Children and Education Sam Galbraith who 'went back to school' to launch the initiative today.
The food safety information pack is an interactive teaching resource which sets out the simple rules of food hygiene and their importance in helping reduce the risk of food poisoning
Speaking after joining pupils of St Augustine's in Edinburgh at their Monday Home Economics class, Ms Deacon, said:
"It is important that young people in our schools have the opportunity to learn simple rules of food hygiene which will stay with them for life. We want to help them to understand why these simple 'do's and don'ts' are so important in helping reduce the risk of food poisoning. Remember, food poisoning can effect anyone at any age. My hope is that this initiative - with the support of pupils and teachers - can make food poisoning a thing of the past in our schools and communities around Scotland.
Sam Galbraith added:
"Better food safety is all about better education. That means starting the education process with our young people and through our schools. These new packs use fresh, modern presentation techniques to help children learn about the dangers of food poisoning, the damage of food poisoning,
and what they can do to reduce the risks of food poisoning. I hope this generation will learn from the mistakes of the past and take these messages on board."
BACKGROUND
1. EU funding for this campaign amounted to £370,000 for the UK.
2. The teaching pack was produced by the Health Education Authority in conjunction with a consortium of organisations including Scottish Executive; Health Education Board for Scotland; Scottish Consumer Council; Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland and National Farmers Union for Scotland
3. The new teaching pack is designed for use by Home Economics teachers in Scotland and throughout the rest of the UK and will supplement existing education material. Pupils should enjoy following 'Doof' an alien who has crash landed on earth, as he learns about food hygiene, with the help of 'Mic-Robe' - a computer robot with lots of information and lots of attitude.
This UK initiative was funded as part of a European Union-wide Food Safety Information Campaign funded by the European Commission and reflects the results of a Eurobarometer survey which revealed strong consumer concern across the EU about the safety of food products.
4. Information pack sent to every school in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
5. As part of same initiative, information packs are currently being developed for use in primary schools and will be available early next year.
News Release: SE1476/1999
29 Nov 1999