Middle schoolers test food safety at food bank

Woodland — How safe is the salmon people receive from the North County Food Bank? Thanks to a study done Nov. 15 by the Woodland Middle School LEGO robotics team, The Seabots, the food bank knows the fish donated from the Lewis River Fish Hatchery is safe. The robotics team has been studying “cold chains” (tracking the temperature of salmon from the moment they are caught to when they are sold or given to the final customer) and FDA requirements. The team spent the entire day working with volunteers from the food bank. The students timed how long it took to process the fish at various stages and monitored the water, ice chest, freezer, air and holding-tank temperatures. From this data, the team will be able to construct a “cold chain” that will demonstrate that volunteers followed proper procedures.