Food Safety In Food Preparation

Marisa has always watched me prepare a meal since she was just a toddler standing on a stool. I always figured she would learn by osmosis. Of course most kids will pick up some knowledge about food preparation this way, but is it really enough? About a year ago, I found out that it definitely is not.

Last year, Marisa wanted to make her own English muffin pizza from a recipe in one of her magazines. When she asked me if we could buy the ingredients she needed, I was more than happy to do it. It's always better to learn by experience, so I was happy Marisa was eager to prepare her own pizza. She even learned how to set the oven and turn it off when done. She had been doing this successfully each day, on her own, during the winter recess from school.

Then, about the fourth day of making pizza for lunch, I happened to notice an opened jar of sauce in the cabinet among other unopened jars and cans of food. Not just concerned but horrified at what I knew this was, I asked, "Marisa, what is this jar of sauce in the kitchen cabinet? Is this the jar you've been making pizza with this week?" She proudly announced, "I only needed a few spoons each day so I'm saving it."

"Oh no, you always must refrigerate an opened jar of sauce," I replied as I opened the jar to sniff the contents. It can grow bacteria, and make you sick if it's not refrigerated once it's opened," I said as I threw the sauce in the garbage. I could not believe that I had taken such an important step in food preparation for granted. In all the years of having Marisa observe me while cooking, I assumed she would know that an opened jar needed to be refrigerated. Well, I was wrong to assume.

Then one day, Marisa expressed an interest in making a tuna sandwich with celery on whole wheat bread. "That sounds really nice! Where did you get the recipe?" I asked. "It's in Seventeen Magazine," she replied. "Okay, we'll do it" I said. This time I was determined to break down every step in the making of this sandwich, so she would be able to do it on her own the next time. The difference was that nothing would be taken for granted. The steps were broken down but would also have food safety in mind.

A few weeks later, after a heavy snow storm, I was outside shoveling way past lunchtime. When I went into the house, I asked Marisa what she had for lunch. "I made a tuna sandwich with celery on rye toast," she announced. I thought of one of the food safety tips I had taught Marisa, and wondered if she remembered. "How did you take the mayonnaise out of the jar?" I asked. "I used a clean spoon," she answered. "That's right!," I replied, so happy that she remembered. "You don't want to get tuna into the mayonnaise, because the tuna will grow bacteria. We want to make sure the mayonnaise stays clean." "Yes, I know," she answered with a definite ring of confidence in her voice.

One step at a time. One moment to learn from. Like savings in a bank, all these small moments to learn from will surely pay off in time. So what if it takes longer or requires repeated reminders? We all learn at different rates. In the end, what really counts is helping our children feel confident with their ability and knowledge to do the right thing. We as parents have the power to make that happen and our reward is watching their job well done!