With the leadership of Frank Yiannas, Walt Disney World's manager of food safety and health, and a little help from the "imagineering" animation team at Disney, eleven International Food Safety Icons are now available from the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) for global education about safe food handling. The Icons are simple graphic representations of important food safety steps that can be universally recognized and understood by food handlers of all nationalities.
The Icons can be used on food safety training materials, signs or reminders at food and beverage workstations, food preparation and storage equipment, and on food packaging. The Icons describe the do's and don'ts of the critical concepts in food handling and preparation and the factors that contribute to foodborne diseases: (1) refrigeration/cold holding; (2) handwashing; (3) cooking; (4) hot holding; (5) cooling; (6) wash, rinse, and sanitize; (7) cross contamination; (8) no bare hand contact; (9) temperature danger zone; (10) do not work if ill; and
(11) potentially hazardous food.
Yiannas chaired the two-year effort to identify the most effective images that would illustrate the most important steps in ensuring food safety. He introduced the Icons to the annual meeting of the Association of Food and Drug Officials in June 2003. Yiannas described the careful work in testing potential images with consumer focus groups before making final decisions. "In many cases, the Icons we (the expert committee) thought would be most effective, were not as persuasive as others chosen by the focus groups," according to Yiannas.
Individuals from Federal food safety agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, universities, and food service companies participated in this groundbreaking project.
Copyright: The International Association for Food Protection holds copyright to the International Food Safety Icons. Any use beyond those outlined by IAFP must be approved in writing prior to such use. Proper credit must be given to IAFP whenever the Icons are used. Guidelines for use, descriptions of each Icon, and the Icons themselves are available from the IAFP Web site at www.foodprotection.org. High quality images are available on a CD for $25 and can be ordered from the IAFP Web site.
The International Association for Food Protection, founded in 1911, is a nonprofit association of food safety professionals. Comprised of a diverse membership of more than 3,000 members from 50 nations, the Association is dedicated to the education and service of its members as well as industry personnel.
