USDA Blog

The USDA’s Food Safety Discovery Zone (FSDZ) concluded its 2010 tour season on November 13, 2010 at the National Science Teachers Association Area Conference, in Baltimore, MD. “How can I get this to my school and how much does it cost?” was the main question asked by the 2,617 educators who visited...

Cross-posted from the FoodSafety.gov blog. The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline talked to about 350 people on Thanksgiving Day about thawing, preparing and storing turkey. Most people were right on track and just needed some reassuring about handling the big bird. Some people, however, called about...

One afternoon in the fall of 2003, 36 consumers and several volunteers gathered in the basement of an Oklahoma City church to sort and purchase products from twenty local producers. They generated $3,500 in sales, and the opening day of the Oklahoma Food Coop (OFC) was determined to have been a...

Cross-posted from FoodSafety.gov. It’s that time of year when the parties never seem to end. They’re great occasions for exchanging good will and gifts – but not the dangerous bacteria that cause foodborne illness. Here are some of the unwanted guests who may try to crash your party:

We hope you enjoyed our countdown to the Thanksgiving holiday, and turkey roasting tips! Now that the holiday is behind us, it’s time to think about what to do with the copious amounts of leftovers taking up room in our refrigerators.

Several months ago, I was selected to participate in a meat processing project that took me from Great Falls, Montana to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. I went under the auspices of the Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs (CNFA) – an organization supported by USAID – to offer advice on the methods...

Cross-posted from the FoodSafety.gov blog. November is the busiest month of the year for those of us on the USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline. During the week of Thanksgiving, we get lots of questions about how to safely cook a turkey. Here are answers to the questions we hear most often.

Cross-posted from the FoodSafety.gov blog. What would Thanksgiving be without the turkey? Most of us plan our entire holiday dinner around the turkey. That’s a lot of pressure on one bird!

When I learned this week of one of our folks being named a candidate finalist for the White House Savings Award, I couldn’t have been more pleased with her idea and effort to improve the way in which we try to achieve a higher standard of how we do things every day. Marjorie Cook, an FSIS inspector...

Cross-posted from the FoodSafety.gov blog. Thanksgiving is closer than you think. If you’re thinking about having a traditional turkey dinner, now is the time to begin planning the big meal. Planning ahead can help ensure that the special meal is successful, safe, and stress-free.