In an effort to help educate Michigan residents about how to prevent foodborne illness, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety Discovery Zone is planning a day of education at Michigan State University (MSU) next month.

USDA’s Discovery Zone is described as a 40-foot multimedia demonstration kitchen on wheels meant for all ages. It will include hands-on demonstrations to show consumers how to prevent foodborne illness with the use of proper food handling techniques. The agency will be joined by food and nutrition experts from MSU Extension. Their focus will be on the four primary food handling steps--clean, separate, cook and chill.

Event details:

• Date: August 2, 2016
• Time: 9 am to 5 pm
• The event is open to the public

“Protecting families’ food from foodborne illness and ensuring that they know how to protect themselves remains a top priority for the USDA and MSU Extension,” says Dawn Contreras, director of MSU Extension health and nutrition programming. “We hope people will take advantage of this event to learn about how they can avoid foodborne illness in their homes.”

The MSU event will be the final Michigan stop during the USDA Food Safety Discovery Zone’s national tour.

Anyone who wishes to request USDA’s Discovery Zone to visit their institution or facility can fill out this form on FSIS.USDA.gov.