Health Matters

Food Poisoning
Pre-Reading
A. Discuss

Discuss the following quote with your class. Do you

agree or disagree? What tone of writing is this quote?
(E.g., sarcastic, humorous, serious, outraged, urgent...)

“Shipping is a terrible thing to

do to vegetables. They probably
get jet-lagged, just like people.”
—Elizabeth Berry

B. Warm-Up Questions

1. Why is it important to wash your hands before eating?

2. Why do grocery clerks pack raw meat in separate bags?

3. Why do many households have two cutting boards?

4. What is the purpose of a meat thermometer?

5. What is the purpose of a thermos or freezer pack?

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Health Matters

Pre-Reading cont.
C. Vocabulary Preview

Match up as many words and meanings as you can.

Check this exercise again after seeing the words in context on page 3.

1. ingest a) to make impure

2. contaminate b) tiny organisms that can multiply and cause disease or infection

3. bacteria c) a device that shows the temperature

4. crucial d) a tool for eating, e.g., fork or spoon

5. spotless e) to become rotten or no longer good to eat

6. utensil f) completely clean

7. sanitize g) a natural response

8. thermometer h) very important

9. buffet i) to make a surface clean to avoid spreading germs

10. spoil j) a wide assortment of self-serve food

11. look off k) to not appear normal or good

12. instinct l) to take into the body, to consume

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Reading
Food poisoning can make you feel miserable for
hours or days. Food poisoning is caused by ingesting:
• f ood or drinks contaminated with harmful bacteria
• food or drinks contaminated with chemicals
7 Tips for Avoiding Food Poisoning
1. Wash your hands. Yes, again!
The single most effective way to avoid food
poisoning is to wash your hands before preparing
or eating food. Whether you are the chef or the
guest, it is crucial that your hands are spotless.
2. Wash your produce.
Don’t trust the store to remove harmful chemicals
from your fruit and vegetables. Many people
handle your produce before you consume
it. Surprisingly, the salad bar in a restaurant
is a common source of food poisoning.
3. Handle raw meat with care.
Make sure not to contaminate other foods with
uncooked meat. Wash utensils that have come
into contact with raw meat carefully.
4. Sanitize your cutting boards.
Keep separate cutting boards for your meat
and veggies. Sanitize your cutting boards.
Wash them with bleach and hot water
or put them in the dishwasher.
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Food Poisoning
Health Matters
5. Invest in a meat thermometer.
Different types of meat require different cooking
temperatures. Most people don’t know what a
turkey should be cooked to. A meat thermometer
helps you cook meat so that it is safe to eat.
6. Keep hot food hot and cold food cold.
Bacteria develops quickly when food is left at
room temperature. This is why buffets can be
dangerous. Food that can spoil should be kept
cold or hot.
7. If in doubt, throw it out.
Does the meat smell funny? Does the cheese
look off? When it comes to food, trust your
instincts. And always check best before dates!
Did You Know...
Contrary to popular belief, wooden cutting boards
are safer than plastic ones. Studies show that
bacteria dies faster on wood than plastic.
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Health Matters

Comprehension
A. True or False?

Read the statements below. If the statement is true, write T beside

the sentence. If it is false, write F and correct the information.

1. The best way to avoid food poisoning is to be a vegetarian.

2. Cutting boards should not go in the dishwasher.

3. A meat thermometer helps you cook meat to a safe temperature.

4. People should trust best before dates rather than their instincts.

5. Bacteria develops quickly at room temperature.

B. Tone

“Red meat is not bad for you.

Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you!”
—Tommy Smothers

Read the quote above. What tone of writing is it?

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 Food Poisoning
Health Matters

Vocabulary Practice
A. Odd One Out

Choose the word or phrase that does not belong in the group.
Can you think of another word that would fit in the group?

1. a) utensil 3. a) consume 5. a) bacteria

b) sanitize b) ingest b) germs
c) clean c) thermometer c) produce
d) bleach d) eat d) disease

2. a) buffet 4. a) spotless
b) instinct b) important
c) feeling c) crucial
d) hunch d) necessary

B. Useful Expressions

• I feel sick to my stomach.

• I feel like I’m going to vomit / throw up.

*Note:
• I feel nauseous*.
Some people pronounce this word nawzeeus. Some
• I have a fever. people say nawshus. The stress is on the first syllable.

• I have the chills.

• I think it’s something I ate.

• I bet it’s from ... the egg salad.

• It could be the stomach flu.

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 Food Poisoning
Health Matters

Vocabulary Practice cont.

C. Game

Work with a partner. Take turns choosing a number from 1 to 15

and rolling a die. Give yourself a point each time you know the answer.
Ask your teacher for help if you don’t know if a response is correct.

Pick a Number Roll a Die

1. ingest 9. thermometer 1. Spell it.

2. contaminate 10. instinct 2. Categorize it by part of speech.
3. bacteria 11. to look off 3. Think of a synonym.
4. crucial 12. buffet 4. Pronounce it. (Where does the stress belong?)
5. spotless 13. spoil 5. Use it in a sentence.
6. consume 14. best before date 6. Give a definition.
7. utensil 15. nauseous
8. sanitize

Writing
Create your own list related Title:
to food poisoning. If you need
more room, write your list 1.
in your notebook.

Example topics:
2.
• 5 foods that can make you sick
• 5 reasons to wash your hands
• 5 differences between the
3.
stomach flu and food poisoning

4.

5.

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 Food Poisoning
Health Matters

Role-Play
DOCTOR’S ORDERS

Get together with a partner. Act out a scene between a food and safety
inspector and a restaurant manager. There has been a report of food
poisoning at the restaurant. Try to use vocabulary from the reading.

Discussion
1. How important was hand washing
in your family when you were a child?

2. Do you scrub your produce before eating it?

3. Have you ever avoided a restaurant due to its uncleanliness?

4. Would your kitchen pass a food safety inspection?

5. Have you ever experienced food poisoning?

What was the cause? How did it feel?

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 Food Poisoning
Health Matters

Answer Key
LESSON DESCRIPTION: LEVEL: High Int

In this lesson, students learn seven tips to avoid food poisoning. TIME: 1.5–2 hours
They learn and review new vocabulary and write their own list
TAGS: food poisoning, food safety, food, health,
about food safety.
hygiene, list, hand washing, restaurant

Pre-Reading Comprehension

A. DISCUSS A. TRUE OR FALSE?

Discuss as a class. Answers will vary. 1. F – Fresh produce can be contaminated. A salad bar
often harbors bacteria that causes food poisoning.
B. WARM-UP QUESTIONS 2. F – It is important to sanitize a cutting board
via a dishwasher or using bleach.
Discuss as a class. Answers will vary.
3. T
4. F – T he list says to trust one’s instincts if food seems “off.”
C. VOCABULARY PREVIEW
It also says to check best before dates. It does not say
1. l 3. b 5. f 7. i 9. j 11. k that one is better than the other.
2. a 4. h 6. d 8. c 10. e 12. g 5. T

Reading B. TONE

Individual answers. A possible answer is “humorous.”

Have students read the article out loud or to themselves.
Review any difficult vocabulary.
(continued on the next page...)

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 Food Poisoning
Health Matters

Answer Key cont.

Vocabulary Practice Role-Play

A. ODD ONE OUT Put students in pairs and have them come up with a short skit.
Invite students to present their skits in front of the class.
Additional words will vary.
Encourage students to use new vocabulary from the reading.
1. a 2. a 3. c 4. a 5. c

Discussion
C. GAME

There are many possible answers for rolling a 5–6. Help Discuss as a class, in small groups, or in pairs.
student pairs as they play. Allow them to use their dictionaries. You could also have students use this as a writing prompt.

Make Your Own Die: https://esllibrary.com/resources/2675

Part of
# Word Synonym Pronunciation
Speech

1 ingest verb eat in/gest

2 contaminate verb spoil con/tam/i/nate

3 bacteria noun germs bac/ter/i/a

4 crucial adjective important cru/cial

5 spotless adjective clean spot/less

6 consume verb ingest con/sume

7 utensils noun silverware u/ten/sils

8 sanitize verb clean san/i/tize

measuring
9 thermometer noun ther/mom/e/ter
device

10 instincts noun feeling in/stincts

11 to look off verb to go off to look off

all-you-can-
12 buffet noun buff/et
eat bar

13 spoil verb ruin spoil

best-before best be/fore

14 noun expiration
date date

nau/seous OR
15 nauseous adjective sick
nau/se/ous

Writing

Individual answers.

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