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Food Safety and Inspection Service


Kick Off Your Super Bowl Party With Pizza

February 01, 2024 Kenneth King, Public Affairs Specialist, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA

Pineapple on pizza is up for debate, but food safety is not. When including pizza in your Super Bowl party, make sure food safety is included in the toppings.

Food and Nutrition Health and Safety

How to Cook Turkey Stuffing Safely

November 15, 2023 Jesus Garcia, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service

Here’s an important Thanksgiving food safety tip that will surprise many: USDA doesn’t recommend stuffing a whole turkey. The practice increases the risk of cross-contamination and takes the turkey longer to cook. Cook stuffing separately instead.

Health and Safety

Thaw Your Turkey Safely in Time for Thanksgiving

November 14, 2023 Jesus Garcia, Food Safety and Inspection Service

The busiest time of the year for USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline is the week before Thanksgiving. Calls, chats and emails are answered by food safety specialists who even work on Thanksgiving Day to ensure your meal is safe.

Health and Safety

Frozen or Fresh: Which Turkey Should You Buy?

November 09, 2023 Jesus Garcia, Food Safety and Inspection Service

It’s finally November. To beat the crowds, you rush to your grocery store to buy a turkey. If this is your first time, you’re faced with a dilemma: frozen or fresh?

Health and Safety

The Kitchen Sink: An Overlooked Place for Food Safety

October 03, 2023 Meredith Carothers, Public Affairs Specialist, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA

We use the kitchen sink for food preparation – rinsing produce, cleaning pots and pans, washing utensils that touch raw meat, and more. With these activities come the possibility for foodborne illness-causing bacteria to hang out in the sink too. If proper food preparation safety steps are not...

Food and Nutrition Health and Safety

Do You Know the Correct Place to Insert Your Food Thermometer?

September 19, 2023 Meredith Carothers, Public Affairs Specialist, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA

You have a food thermometer and are ready to use it – that’s fantastic! But do you know where to place it in your foods? Correctly placing the food thermometer within food is important to get the most accurate temperature reading. Without proper placement, it’s possible that parts of your food could...

Health and Safety

Your Top Ten Labor Day Weekend Food Safety Tips

August 30, 2023 Jesus Garcia, Public Affairs Specialist, Food Safety Education Staff

When you hit the road for that one last camping trip or beach day, bring food safety along to keep foodborne illness in the rearview mirror.

Health and Safety

Make the Food Safety Honor Roll This School Year

July 24, 2023 Kenneth King, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service

Parents and caregivers should take extra precautions when preparing and packing a school lunch. Flunking in food safety is not an option, especially when children are most vulnerable to foodborne illness.

Health and Safety

Celebrate Your Fourth of July Without Foodborne Illness

June 27, 2023 Yolande Mitchell, Management Analyst, FSIS, USDA

The Fourth of July is a time of celebration, family and of course cookouts. Cooking safely is in your hands and doing so can help keep your family healthy this Independence Day. Control the transfer of bacteria by thoroughly washing your hands before and after touching raw meat, poultry and seafood.

Health and Safety

The Grand Challenge: Salmonella

June 07, 2023 Scott Elliott, ARS Office of Communications

Today is World Food Safety Day, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has launched a sweeping new initiative known as the Salmonella Grand Challenge. The project brings together an elite group of ARS, university and food industry scientists from different...

Health and Safety Research and Science
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