Canada Day (July 1) means beer, barbecues and baby back ribs.
For the Government of Canada, it means, Food Safety Can Be Fun!

"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Health Canada and the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education (the Partnership) invite media to attend Food Safety Can Be Fun!, an exciting, interactive food safety event."

Maybe. Or maybe it was as numbing as the June 21, 2007 press release from Health Canada reminding Canadians of "four simple steps they can take to protect themselves from food-borne illnesses: clean, separate, cook and chill."

Food safety is not simple. And Dr. Sarah Wilson has been helping me spread that evidence-based message since joining my lab, the Food Safety Network, in 2002. When consumers, reporters, and agencies like Health Canada, CFIA and the Partnership had food safety questions that went outside the paternalistic cook, clean, chill and separate, they turned to Sarah and her staff in the Food Safety Network information centre.

Sarah has now moved on to a new job, and hopefully much greener pastures. When I left Guelph for Kansas State University in 2006, I publicly stated that FSN was expanding, and that Guelph and Kansas would work together. My new administration agreed; the folks at Guelph responded they wanted to separate — and maybe cleanse by cleaning, cooking and chilling  — and that there should be two Food Safety Networks.

There is one International Food Safety Network; one barfblog; one donteatpoop.com. We will miss Sarah Wilson.