South Lampung, 4 November 2025 – The Study Program Food Technology at Institut Teknologi Sumatera carried out a Community Service activity themed “Safe Food Generation” at SMPN 3 Jati Agung, South Lampung. The activity was designed to improve students’ understanding of the importance of food safety in preventing poisoning risks as well as providing training for making healthy snacks in the form of marshmallows with tomato and banana as base ingredients.
This interactive educational activity was attended by 30 eighth-grade students. Through a communicative delivery approach and direct practice, the Food Technology Community Service team from ITERA equipped students with basic knowledge of the dangers of unsafe food, especially school snacks, how to choose safe food, and simple hygienic processing techniques.
The head of the Community Service team, Zada Agna Talitha, S.T.P., M.Sc, explained that this activity was a real contribution from the university in building early food safety awareness. “We hope students understand that the safety of school snacks is a shared responsibility. Through interactive methods, students can more easily understand and realize the importance of this,” said Agna.
In the interactive education session, the Food Technology lecturer Afrida Nurwulan, S.Pi., M.Si, delivered material covering basic food safety concepts, characteristics of snacks that have the potential to harm health, and principles for choosing safe and nutritious food. Students also received explanations regarding the importance of hygienic behavior before eating, such as washing hands with soap for at least 20 seconds to prevent microbial contamination. Interaction through question and answer and educational games further increased students’ enthusiasm and understanding of the material.
The activity then continued with a demonstration of making healthy snacks as a form of direct application of food safety principles. In this session, students were introduced to the process of making marshmallows with natural ingredients without dangerous chemical additives. Students had the opportunity to see and participate in the mixing process up to dough printing. The team also explained the reasons for choosing ingredients, nutritional content, and the importance of maintaining sanitation during processing. Through this practice, students can understand the relationship between theory and its application in simple safe and healthy food products.
As many as 30 students took the pretest and posttest to measure knowledge improvement. Evaluation results showed an increase in understanding of more than 70% after the activity took place. In addition, this activity successfully fostered students’ awareness of the importance of a clean environment and hygienic behavior related to food safety.
This activity received a positive response from the school. The Deputy Head of SMPN 3 Jati Agung in charge of Student Affairs, Ibu Novita, conveyed her appreciation. “We greatly appreciate the activity carried out by the Food Technology Lecturers and Students of ITERA. Such education is very important for building students’ awareness in choosing safe and healthy snacks,” she said.
Overall, this interactive School Snack Food Safety Education Program ran well and had a significant impact in increasing food safety literacy among students. It is hoped that students can become agents of change in realizing a culture of safe, healthy, and nutritious food consumption from an early age.
