Photos

1950's Minnesota Health Campaign Photo (1)

Shot in the 1950s, this image depicted a restaurant food server, whose body positioning placed her into close proximity with the patron, which increased the risk of transferring a possible communicable infection. The server was placing her arms on the customerâ??s table, and standing closer than necessary in order to perform her task, thus increasing the chance of transferring an infectious disease. This image was part of a Minnesota Health Department campaign to promote safe food handling and to prevent food-borne illness. Many people do not think about food safety until a food-related illness affects them or a family member. While the food supply in the United States in 2005 was acknowledged as being one of the safest in the world, CDC estimates that 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 Americans die each year from food-borne illness. Preventing food-borne illness and death remains a major public health challenge.