With more and more Americans eating out, it is critical that all foodservice workers learn about safe food handling. Without proper training, workers might improperly handle food and as a result foodborne illness could occur. The National Restaurant Association (NRA) estimates that a single foodborne illness outbreak could cost a restaurant an estimated $75,000.

Chinese is the third most commonly spoken language in U.S. foodservice operations, following English and Spanish. In many areas of the U.S., food safety educators only speak English and so it is difficult for them to effectively train Chinese–speaking foodservice workers. This website was designed to help food safety educators reach this important group — Chinese-speaking foodservice workers.

The website is divided into two sections — Student Tools and Educator Tools. All materials are based on the 2005 FDA Food Code.

• Student Tools contain six fun and interactive activities that will help Chinese–speaking foodservice workers learn key food safety concepts. Students should be directed to this part of the site and complete the activities on their own time.
• Educator Tools include training aids for the food safety educator — a slide set to prepare students to take a food safety certification exam, handouts that correspond to the slide set, songs to reinforce key food safety concepts, a video, and links to other educational resources. All materials are available in English and Simplified Chinese.

NOTE: The Chinese language consists of seven language groups. Mandarin followed by Cantonese has the greatest number of speakers. Written Chinese is the same regardless of the dialect spoken. The only difference is that in Mainland China a simplified writing system is used, whereas in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other overseas regions the traditional script is used. All written materials found on this website are in Simplified Chinese.

For more information about the Chinese language go to: http://www.chinalanguage.com/

Credits & Contact

For more information about this project, contact
Angela M. Fraser, Ph.D. Associate Professor/Food Safety Specialist
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
A203B Poole Agricultural Center
Clemson University
Clemson, SC 29634
phone: 864.656.3652 email: afraser@exchange.clemson.edu

This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2003-51110-01715, the National Integrated Food Safety Initiative of the Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.