USDA announces new food safety Web site

Apr 21, 2004 (CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) yesterday launched a new Web site designed to make it easier for the public to find safety information about meat and poultry.

Site users can consult "Karen," the agency's "virtual hotline representative," for consumer information, the agency said in a news release. "Karen" answers questions about preventing foodborne illness and safely storing, preparing, and handling meat, poultry, and egg products. People can still call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, 1-888-674-6854, to ask questions as well.

"This web site will give consumers immediate access to the information that will help them protect themselves and their families," FSIS Acting Administrator Barbara Masters commented in the news release.

The new site is part of a program, announced by Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman in January, to improve the USDA's "electronic government" capabilities, the agency said. The program began with a redesign of the USDA home page.

Like the old FSIS site, the redesigned site provides information about meat and poultry recalls, FSIS regulations, food security, and other topics.

See also:

New FSIS homepage
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/home/index.asp