The WHO (World Health Organization) is an invaluable public health resource. Their Food Safety group has a special program called “Five Keys To Safer Food”, a collection of posters and manuals in 50 languages that underly their global campaign to educate people all over the world about proper food handling. As we know very well here in China, food-borne illnesses are very common, and it is crucial that everyone — especially ayis — understand the basics of food handling.

The Five Keys To Safer Food Are:

1. Keep clean
2. Separate raw and cooked
3. Cook thoroughly
4. Keep food at safe temperatures
5. Use safe water and raw materials

I think that the WHO’s informational poster is invaluable for anyone that cooks, especially for your ayis that are cooking for you and your children! Don’t forget that most ayis come from poorer rural areas and have not been well trained in proper food handling. You should print out the PDF file of the Chinese poster and have her read it, and post it in your kitchen or somewhere she can be reminded. You can also give her the Chinese training manual if you think she may enjoy it, although the writing is much more geared towards instructors. You should first read the PDF English poster and manual yourselves; you’ll be surprised at some of the basics that many people commonly forget! The poster and manual also come in many other languages.