Andalusia High School’s family and consumer science students were crime scene detectives on Tuesday.

Teacher Delores Williams said she came up with the idea after watching a CSI marathon.

“I thought it would be a neat idea for the students to grasp the foodborne illnesses associated with improper kitchen practices,” she said.

Foodborne illnesses, which are also known as food poisoning, are a common costly, yet preventable, public health problem.

Williams said it’s important for her students to understand about foodborne illnesses because roughly one in six Americans gets sick each year and some 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.

Students have learned about foods that are associated with foodborne illness and how food become contaminated.

In Tuesday’s exercise, students had to determine what airborne illness the person died from by surveying the crime scene, reading the autopsy and reading information supplied by the victim’s family and friends.

Additionally, students had to specify the safety violations in each of the four kitchens.

Students learned about foodborne illnesses such as botulism, salmonella, E. coli and staph.