Making the Connection:
Activity Report of the USDA Meat and Poultry
Hotline for 2000
About the Meat and Poultry Hotline
The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry
Hotline is a service of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, DC. The
Hotline helps consumers prevent foodborne
illness, specifically by answering their
questions about the safe storage, handling,
and preparation of meat, poultry, and egg
products. The Hotline also responds to other
issues related to the mission of USDA’s Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which
is to ensure that the Nation's commercial
supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is
safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and
packaged, as required by the Federal Meat
Inspection Act, the Poultry Products
Inspection Act, and the Egg Products
Inspection Act.
The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, in
operation since 1985, has been an effective
educational tool for several reasons. First,
the Hotline gives consumers quick and easy
access to USDA and an opportunity to ask
questions or express opinions. (Callers may
choose to listen to recorded messages,
available 24 hours a day, or they may call
during operating hours and speak with a food
safety specialist.)
Because they deal one-on-one with
callers, Hotline food safety specialists are
able to assess the caller’s knowledge of
safe food handling and provide appropriate
guidance. Talking consumers through a
difficult or puzzling situation helps them
choose the safest food-handling
alternatives, thus reducing the risk of
illness. Specialists also assist callers by
clearing up misconceptions about food safety
and food industry practices.
In an emergency situation—an outbreak of
foodborne illness, a natural disaster, or a
product recall—the Hotline provides vital
information in a timely manner. For example,
in the event of a recall, consumers can
obtain detailed information that will help
them identify the suspect product.
Its nationwide service area also means
that the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline can
help detect possible public health threats.
Certainly, the data gathered by the Hotline
helps FSIS discern gaps in consumer
knowledge. In essence, the Hotline callers
serve as a focus group. Analysis of caller
questions and concerns helps FSIS plan
effective educational campaigns.
Finally, the Hotline is able to
disseminate information widely through a
variety of channels. Consumers are the
primary users of the USDA Meat and Poultry
Hotline, but by no means the only ones. When
writers, reporters, and educators obtain
help and information from FSIS and the
Hotline, that information is passed on to
readers or clients who may number in the
millions. Hotline callers also include
government officials; people in the food
industry and foodservice workers; students
and teachers; other USDA employees, such as
those in the Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service; consumer
groups; and professionals in health,
consumer affairs, and law. Also, the Hotline
now has a bilingual (English/Spanish) food
safety specialist on the staff to enhance
service to Spanish-speaking consumers. The
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline is part of
FSIS’ Food Safety Education Staff (FSES)
within the Office of the Food Safety
Inspection Service (FSIS) Administrator.
2000 Accomplishments
As in years past, the
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline’s most visible
accomplishment was in the area of customer
service—direct responses to the thousands of
callers concerned about all aspects of food
safety. Over 86,000 calls were answered by
the Hotline staff during FY 2000. In
addition to basic food handling, storage,
and preparation questions, the Hotline
addressed the latest issues: outbreaks of
foodborne illness; pathogens such as
Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter,
and E. coli O157:H7; recalls of meat
and poultry products; egg safety;
agricultural biotechnology; mail order food
safety; Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(BSE); product dating;
organic food labeling; and many others. Its
nationwide service area enables the Hotline
to serve as an early warning system,
detecting possible public health threats.
Analysis of caller questions and concerns
allows FSIS to plan effective educational
campaigns, and data collected by the Hotline
helps the Agency discern gaps in consumer
knowledge.
In addition to its
consumer calls, the Hotline handled over 300
calls from the media and other “information
multipliers” who further disseminated the
information provided by the Hotline. To
reach this group of constituents, the
Hotline issued news feature stories, fact
sheets, and video news releases. The Hotline
added new publications to its “Food Safety
Focus” and “Food Safety Feature” series to
provide writers and educators with
background information as well as
ready-to-use text. Collections of new
publications were mailed to 3,500 newspaper
and magazine food and health editors, and
also to some consumer affairs professionals.
All publications developed by the Hotline
were posted to FSIS’ Web site,
http://www.fsis.usda.gov,
for wider distribution. Placement of
features in newspapers through the North
American Precis Syndicate (NAPS) ensured
that millions of readers had access to
information about the Hotline and safe food
handling practices. Finally, information
developed by the Hotline was published in a
variety of specialized publications.
New and Noteworthy—Caller
Concerns in 2000
Year 2000 (“Y2K”) Issues and the Food Supply
A unique issue arose in 1999
related to the “millenium bug” expected to affect
computer systems that had not been upgraded to
correctly recognize and display dates after
January 1, 2000. Consumer concern extended to the
possible impact that computer system malfunctions
would have on the food supply sector. During 1999,
a number of Hotline callers stated that Y2K fears
were at the heart of their food storage and food
preservation questions.
During the last days of
1999 through the first few days of 2000, FSES
participated actively in the overall FSIS business
continuity contingency planning for the Y2K
rollover. From December 31-January 2, Hotline food
safety specialists monitored a special voice
mailbox where consumers could leave a message if
they were experiencing a Y2K emergency. No calls
were received. Members of the Hotline staff served
on the USDA Y2K Food Supply Working Group to
exchange information about consumer concerns and
to apprise Department officials of the types of
questions answered by the Meat and Poultry
Hotline.
HACCP-Based Inspection
Models Project (HIMP) Inquiries Prompt Onslaught
of E-mail Messages and Hotline Calls
FSIS received over 300
inquiries concerning a Scripps-Howard News Service
article that claimed meat and poultry
slaughtered under FSIS’new rules is unfit for human consumption.
The article claimed that meat from the HIMP pilot
plants is classified as safe for humans to eat
even when carcasses have cancers, tumors, and open
sores. The National Joint Council (NJC) of Food
Inspection Locals was quoted claiming that meat is
unsafe because of the lowering of food standards.
The Director of the Government Accountability
Project stated that chickens from the pilot
project have higher levels of fecal and other
contamination than those from traditional plants.
FSIS held a press conference and took an active
stance in getting the correct information to the
public. FSES recommended using the Administrator's
cleared comments and advice as a standard reply to
the continuous arrival of e-mails referring to the
news article. As a result, FSES received numerous
positive responses, thanking the agency for
clarifying the misinformation circulating in the
media.
Product Recalls
Voluntary recalls of meat and
poultry products typically generate calls to the
Hotline. Most often, callers are seeking to obtain
package codes and other information to help them
identify recalled products they may have
purchased. In 2000, half the meat and poultry
product recalls coordinated and monitored by FSIS
involved products testing positive for Listeria
monocytogenes. Therefore, recall questions
were more likely to be coupled with Listeria
questions than in years past.
Thanksgiving Holiday Boosts Hotline Calls
The November-December holiday season was once
again the busiest time of the year for the USDA
Meat and Poultry Hotline. As usual, the
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline was in operation
from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving
Day. The 6 Hotline technical information
specialists on duty personally talked with 449
consumers. The additional calls handled by the
automated call data system brought the total for
the day to 1,406 calls. There were over 1,000
calls a day during Thanksgiving week that helped
bring the total for the month of November to
almost 16,000. Consumer food safety questions were
focused mainly around turkey preparation, storage,
and handling. Many callers were concerned about
cooking times: "How long should it take?", "Had it
cooked too soon?", "Have I cooked it too long?",
and "What should I do?" Brining
and deep frying calls to the Hotline in late 2000
indicated that these methods of preparing the
Thanksgiving turkey are gaining in popularity. In addition, the Hotline staff assisted
consumers with numerous food preparation and
handling situations that were very unsafe and
could have resulted in potential foodborne illness
cases.
Facts and Figures
This section presents facts
and figures about USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline
calls and inquiries received between January 1,
2000, and December 31, 2000.
Call Volume
In 2000, the USDA Meat and
Poultry Hotline received a grand total of 83,980
calls, distributed by month as shown in figure 1.
November is traditionally the busiest month, and
2000 was no exception. Sixteen percent of calls
for the year were received in November. Interest
in safe food handling intensifies as callers
prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving.
To handle incoming calls, the
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline presently has 8
inbound telephone lines servicing the toll-free
(800) number. The Hotline also provides a local
number for residents of the Washington, D.C.,
metropolitan area, and a TTY number for the
deaf/hearing impaired.
[D]
The Hotline offers assistance
from food safety specialists from 10:00 a.m. to
4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, but
the system provides recorded food safety messages
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Therefore, the
number of callers who spoke to a food safety
specialist—and had their concerns documented—is
less than the total number of incoming calls. The
remaining statistics in this report are based on
the records of 28,444 calls that comprise 29,928
inquiries. (One person’s “call” may include
several distinct “inquiries” on different topics.)
Hotline Callers
The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline is primarily a
consumer service, and in 2000, 84 percent of
Hotline callers were calling as interested
consumers. The remaining 15 percent identified
themselves as part of a specialized audience, as
shown in figure 2. (Percentages do not add up to
exactly 100 percent due to rounding error.)
[D]
The Hotline’s business and
professional clients included educators and
communicators, government officials, registered
dietitians, home economists, Extension agents,
health professionals, consumer affairs
professionals, and representatives of FSIS’
regulated entities. These “multipliers” of
information—especially the media callers—allow the
Hotline’s recommendations to reach a vast number
of consumers, not just those who call the Hotline
themselves.
Figure 2 counts the 293 media/information
multiplier calls that came to the Hotline and were
handled by specialists. Additional media calls
reached the Hotline manager through other
channels, bringing the actual total to 472. These
included calls from newspapers (58), magazines
(54), radio and television stations (35), and
various other publications, including newsletters
(32).
Callers’ Home States
As a centralized service, the USDA Meat and
Poultry Hotline is able to compare calls received
from different regions of the country. In 2000, as
in prior years, the Hotline received calls from
all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S.
territories, and foreign countries. The
distribution of the calls from the United States
is shown in figure 3; the named regions are
roughly equivalent to time zones.
The Eastern zone—largest in terms of population
and number of states—produced 60 percent of the
calls; the Central region, 23 percent; the
Mountain region, 4 percent; and the Pacific
region, 13 percent. This geographic distribution
of calls is similar to the distribution in years
past.
[D]
The top call-producing states, in descending
order, were: California, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Michigan,
New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts.
Together these 12 states accounted for 68 percent
of calls from the U.S. where the state or country
was known (N=18,733).
The Hotline also received calls from foreign
countries including 95 inquiries from Canada.
How Callers Learned of the Hotline
Figure 4 illustrates the ways
callers learned of the USDA Meat and Poultry
Hotline. This information was solicited mainly
from first-time callers; approximately 29 percent
of Hotline calls were from repeat callers. Print
media were the most used sources, although an
increasing variety of communications
channels—including books and Web sites—led callers
to the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline.
The types of sources mentioned most often were
newspapers (20 percent); miscellaneous print and
electronic media, including textbooks, cookbooks,
and pamphlets (15 percent); USDA and Extension
services (8 percent); word of mouth (8 percent);
directories (8 percent); and radio and television
(6 percent). The most frequently mentioned media
outlets included major daily newspapers such as
the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Houston
Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Detroit News
and Free Press, Chicago Tribune, and
Washington Post. Magazines included Family
Circle, Good Housekeeping, and
Better Homes and Gardens. Local television
newscasts and radio programs were also frequently
used sources.
[D]
Types of Inquiries
Over 98 percent of the
inquiries handled by the USDA Meat and Poultry
Hotline in 2000 were information requests, with
the remainder being complaints.
The Hotline is one channel
through which consumer complaints reach FSIS’
Office of Public Health and Science, where
complaint investigation is managed. In 2000, 539
inquiries were classified as complaints. Of these,
218 were referred for formal Agency investigation.
The remaining 321 complaints were of a more
general nature or needed to be referred to the FDA
or a local health department for action.
Reports of possible foreign
objects in meat or poultry products were the most
common type of formal FSIS complaint, followed by
reports of alleged illness or injury. Similarly,
informal complaints most often concerned alleged
foreign objects or an alleged illness or injury,
but also included a range of other topics
(including foodborne pathogens; labeling; product
content or ingredients; and product appearance,
taste, texture, or odor).
Subject of Inquiry
As shown in figure 5, most
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline inquiries pertain to
safe food storage, handling, and preparation. This
type of query, along with publication requests and
general questions about foodborne illness,
accounted for 54 percent of inquiries in 2000.
This is consistent with data from previous years,
which show that basic food safety questions
usually account for approximately 60 percent of
all inquiries.
Seventeen percent of
inquiries (down from 24 percent in 1999) dealt
with food marketing and inspection issues. For
example, callers asked about the actions of the
regulatory agencies: meat, poultry, and egg
product inspection; product recalls; product
formulations; etc. Purchasing decisions also
raised safety questions for consumers; they
inquired about food packaging, cooking equipment
and housewares, agricultural chemical use, food
additives, quality grading, animal husbandry
practices, and food biotechnology.
[D]
Approximately 7 percent of
inquiries dealt with products and practices that
failed to meet the caller’s expectations. Examples
are products in “off” or suspect condition,
practices in grocery stores, and practices in
foodservice establishments.
Five percent of inquiries
pertained to labeling (ingredient, nutrition,
etc.), product dating, or basic nutrition. The
remaining 17 percent of inquiries reflected other
concerns and included referrals for questions
outside the Hotline and FSIS mission area.
The year’s top 10 subjects of
inquiry are shown in more specific terms in figure
6, with the number of inquiries recorded under
each subject.
[D]
Inquiries by Food Product Category
Eighty-four percent of
inquiries were associated with a specific food or
class of product. Figure 7 depicts this group of
inquiries (N=29,928).
Sixteen percent of the
product-specific inquiries fell under one of the
top five categories. These were: turkey, beef
and/or veal, chicken, all foods or assorted foods,
and meat and poultry in general.
Figure 7 shows that the USDA Meat and Poultry
Hotline receives and addresses questions about
products other than meat, poultry, and egg
products. The principles of safe handling are the
same for all foods, and generally other foods are
prepared alongside meat and poultry dishes.
However, questions about other products are
referred to the responsible regulatory agency when
necessary. Most often, the responsible agency is
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or a local
health department (see “Call Management” on the
next page).
[D]
There are noticeable seasonal
variations in Hotline inquiries. Calls about
turkeys prevail in November and December; pork and
egg questions are more frequent in the spring;
while chicken and beef questions dominate the
summer grilling and picnic season.
Call Management
The Hotline’s food safety
specialists maintain contact with experts in FSIS
and many other agencies in order to provide the
best, most current information to consumers. As a
result, the Hotline staff resolved 88 percent of
inquiries. Approximately 4 percent of inquiries
were referred to another division of FSIS; the
remaining 8 percent were referred to other
agencies.
[D]
Most referrals were made to the following: FDA,
which regulates foods other than meat, poultry,
and egg products; other USDA agencies; State or
local health departments, responsible for
inspecting grocery stores and foodservice
establishments; miscellaneous government agencies;
and other groups. Figure 8 illustrates the
disposition of inquiries.
Day-to-Day Operation of the Hotline
The USDA Meat and Poultry
Hotline is one part of FSIS’ overall food safety
education program, and it is housed within the
Food Safety Education Staff (FSES). In support of
that program, Hotline specialists assume diverse
responsibilities in addition to answering calls.
Many of the publications developed or revised by
the FSES are based on calls to the Hotline.
Publications were distributed in print,
electronically, and as part of periodic mailings
to newspaper food and health editors, magazine
editors, and consumer affairs professionals. Key
pieces of advice were the subjects of additional
print and video news releases.
All these publications are
available on the FSIS Web site,
http://www.fsis.usda.gov.
Hotline food safety
specialists served as subject matter experts,
responsible for keeping all staff informed about
specific food safety issues. This entailed
conducting literature searches, attending
professional meetings and seminars, establishing
alliances with experts across the country, and
developing reference materials. Specialists
maintained contact with other offices, agencies,
and organizations that conduct food safety
education. To reach audiences beyond the Hotline’s
callers, specialists gave speeches and
presentations at conventions, professional
meetings, and in a variety of other settings.
The personnel who staff the USDA Meat and Poultry
Hotline bring a variety of professional and
educational experiences to their work. Specialists
represent disciplines including medicine, food
technology, and consumer and family sciences.
Staff members have experience as home economics
and nutrition teachers, public health and
community nutrition experts, microwave cooking and
appliance specialists, journalists, and registered
dietitians with nursing home and hospital
experience.
For More Information
USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline may be reached by calling:
- 1-800-535-4555 (voice),
- 202-720-3333 (Washington, DC, metropolitan area), or
- 1-800-256-7072 (TTY).
Callers may speak with a food
safety specialist between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. Recorded food
safety messages are available in English and
Spanish 24 hours a day.
Information from and about the Hotline is
available on the FSIS Web site, http://www.fsis.usda.gov.
The Hotline’s electronic mail address is
mphotline.fsis@usda.gov
Accessibility Note: [D]
Links provide descriptive text for each graphic
FOOD SAFETY EDUCATION
STAFF PROJECTS
As noted, the USDA Meat and
Poultry Hotline is part of the Food Safety
Education Staff (FSES). FSES is involved in a wide
range of educational initiatives. Following are
some of the Food Safety Education Staff's major
accomplishments in 2000.
FSIS conducts an extensive outreach program of
consumer education to meet information needs on
basic safe food handling to avoid foodborne
illnesses. In 2000, FSIS continued to work to
reduce foodborne illness by providing consumers
with the information they need to safely handle
meat, poultry, and egg products. Communication
projects and educational campaigns are solidly
science based, drawn from epidemiological studies
concerning foods and behaviors that contribute to
food safety risks. Projects are also based on
research derived from educational theory, market
and consumer research, and focus group testing.
Information is disseminated to the media,
information multipliers, and consumers through the
FSIS Web site, printed materials, videos, personal
contact via USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline, and
presentations by FSIS representatives. Media
outreach included feature stories through the North American
Precis Syndicate to 10,000 daily and weekly
newspapers and media packets for newspaper and
magazine food and health editors. All publications
in the media packets were posted to the FSIS Web
site, and the winter and summer media packets were
mailed to 3,000 newspaper food and health editors,
with a combined circulation greater than 90
million. FSES
members also served on the "Healthy People
2010" Food Safety Working Group, which provided
administrative and research support for the
addition of food safety objectives based on the
Partnership for Food Safety Education’s
“Fight BAC!™” messages.
In
1999, FSES began a multi-year
campaign to promote food thermometer use by
directing focus group testing of slogans along
with a representative character. On May 25, 2000,
USDA launched Thermy™, the messenger of the FSIS
national consumer thermometer education campaign.
The campaign theme, It's Safe to Bite When the
Temperature is Right!, is designed to
encourage consumers to use a food thermometer when
cooking meat, poultry, and egg products. Using a
food thermometer is the only way to tell that food
has reached a high enough temperature to destroy
harmful pathogens that may be in food.
FSES developed materials for
a variety of media and facilitated meetings and
information exchange among the Food Temperature
Indicator Association, an alliance of
manufacturers. This resulted in several large
grocery store chains launching their own
thermometer promotions.
The newly
launched food thermometer education campaign was
an immediate success, with appearances made by the
Thermy™ costumed character in grocery stores,
special events, hospitals, and community fairs,
and events nationwide.
Since the thermometer
campaign was launched, over 50,000 information
kits, 30,000 magnets, and posters have been
distributed to food safety educators nationwide.
The brochure, Use a Food Thermometer, is
now available in Spanish; magnets, posters, and
postcards will be available in Spanish in 2001.
All Thermy™ materials are also available on the
FSIS Web site:
www.fsis.usda.gov/thermy. In
addition, Thermy™ public service announcements (PSA)
with closed-captioning were delivered to public
service directors in 600 media markets, network
affiliates, and family and children's programming
shows.
For the
first time, USDA’s newest educational messengers,
Thermy™, BAC, and Power Panther™ appeared in the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, along with Smokey
Bear™ and Woodsy Owl™. These walking characters
were seen by two million spectators lining the
parade route in New York City and more than 60
million viewers worldwide on television
Thanksgiving morning. A video of the characters’
appearance was taped, photos were taken, and the
characters were shown on TV. An article and photo
of Thermy™ was also featured in the Washington
Post.
As part of the
National Food Safety Initiative,
the Partnership for Food Safety Education, an
ambitious, unprecedented federal-private
partnership, was created to reduce the incidence
of foodborne illness by educating Americans about
safe food handling practices. Federal partners
include the USDA, the Food and Drug Administration
and the Department of Health and Human Services,
and the U.S. Department of Education in addition
to a network of partners comprised of more than
500 national, State, and local organizations from
the public health, government, consumer, and
industry sectors. The Partnership’s Fight BAC!™
campaign, which began in 1997, continues today.
In 2000, the
Partnership established the full-time position of
Executive Director to enhance the Partnership's
work with government, consumer, and industry
organizations and develop professional contacts to
benefit and further the Partnership's goals.
In 2000, the
Director of the Food Safety Education Staff
returned to regular duties after serving on a
1-year special assignment to the University of
Maryland/Joint Institute for Food Safety
and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN). During the year,
the Director assisted
the Partnership for Food Safety Education on the
nationwide Fight BAC!™ program, served as
liaison between the Federal government and the
partnership, and represented the Government’s
interest in program development. Special
projects included the revitalization of the Fight
BAC!™ Web site and development of the Virtual
Toolbox. The Director remains as the USDA liaison
to the Partnership.
The Fight BAC!™ food safety video, How
Our School Fought BAC! for Food Safety, won a
first place award from the U.S. International Film
and Video Festival. The Fight BAC!™ video, which
earned the top prize for children's programming,
was among about 1,600 entries from more than 30
countries. Only about 20 percent of the entries
received recognition in the 71 subject categories
or 11 production
technique categories. FSES had a major role in
reviewing the script and was involved in on-site
technical assistance for the shooting of the
video. The video is part of a school-based
education kit aimed at fourth through sixth
graders.
The
Partnership relaunched the 1997 Fight BAC!™ PSA
at the Radio-Television News Directors Association
(RTNDA) annual meeting in September 2000 in
Minneapolis, MN. The PSA relaunch went out via
satellite, and tapes were sent to top television
stations and shown on an in-house cable at the
convention, in every attendee’s hotel room, and on
the tour buses. The animated Fight BAC!™ PSA also
ran as a commercial on the RTNDA TV Program.
In 2000, the
Partnership obtained a new and improved BAC
inflatable costume which is air-filled. Other new
features include the Fight BAC!™ food safety
quadrant artwork on the back of the costume and a
stand which allows the inflated costume to stand
by itself without having someone inside.
FSES continued to coordinate use of the BAC
costume at school events, public health fairs,
state and county fairs, and conventions.
Food safety education
activities continued to support the Fight BAC!™
campaign and messages. A publication
entitled, Using Partnerships to Fight BAC!™ A
Workbook for Food Safety Educators, was
developed and distributed nationally. A satellite
video teleconference for educators introduced the
workbook.
National Food Safety Initiative
In 2000, a toll-free Food
Safety Recorded Message Hotline (1-877-727-FOOD)
was placed in service. This hotline is an
interagency service located at and managed by
FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
(CFSAN). Its purpose is to provide supplemental
information via a recorded message system under
the following situations:
-
during an emergency (e.g., a
specific recall),
-
when a new food safety message is
issued (e.g., egg safety guidance), or
-
during a special promotional period
(e.g., National Food Safety Education MonthSM).
National Food Safety
Information Network
FSIS and
other USDA agencies belong to the National Food
Safety Information Network, which connects the
Federal government’s primary mechanisms for
providing food safety information to the public.
The Network includes:
www.FoodSafety.gov,
the “Government Gateway to Food Safety
Information”; the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline;
CFSAN; the USDA/FDA Foodborne Illness Education
Information Center; National Food Safety
Educator’s Network (EdNet); and
FoodSafe, an
online discussion group with 1,800 subscribers
from more than 50 countries around the world. The
FoodSafety.gov Web site is an important
part of this growing network. In 2000, this Web
site was expanded and enhanced, with additions
including the President’s Council on Food Safety
home page. See http://www.foodsafety.gov.
Created by the
International Food Safety Council, a coalition of
restaurant and foodservice professionals certified
in food safety, NFSEM is another activity within
the National Food Safety Initiative. It is a major
food safety education focus in September each year
for government and consumer organizations, as well
as industry. The goals of the month are: (1) to
reinforce food safety education and training among
restaurant and foodservice workers, and (2) to
educate the public to handle and prepare food
properly at home, where food safety is equally
important--whether cooking from scratch or serving
take-out meals or leftovers.
In 2000, a proclamation was
signed by Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman,
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala,
and Office of Science and Technology Policy
Director Neal Lane, co-chairs of the President’s
Council on Food Safety, to recognize the “many
educators and consumers who actively promote safe
food products and the safe handling of food.” The
September 2000 theme was: "Be Smart, Keep Foods
Apart. Don’t Cross-Contaminate!” FSIS, in
cooperation with FDA, developed and distributed
40,000 consumer education planning guides filled
with resources to plan education and classroom
events. The kits were distributed to cooperative
extension agents and other educators throughout
the U.S. Information and kit materials for NFSEMSM
were also available on the Web site:
http://www.FoodSafety.gov/September/.
FSIS also asked communities to share
pictures, special materials, and video footage of
community events of their National Food Safety
Education MonthSM activities.
FSIS Listeria
monocytogenes Action Plan--Consumer Education
Component
According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), an estimated 1,100 people in the United
States report serious illness from listeriosis each year. Of those reporting, approximately
25 percent die as a result of the illness. Because
pregnant women and newborns, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems caused by
cancer treatments, AIDS, diabetes, kidney disease,
etc., are at risk for becoming seriously ill from
eating foods that contain Listeria
monocytogenes, FSES consumer education
programs specifically target those groups.
The first of four scheduled focus groups
with pregnant women to learn more about consumer
knowledge of Listeria monocytogenes and
safe food handling was conducted by the Research
Triangle Institute (RTI) in Manchester, NH, in
October. Other locations for focus group meetings
included Cedar Rapids, IA; Salt Lake City, UT; and
Raleigh, NC.
As
part of the FSIS Listeria monocytogenes
Action Plan, a Consumer Education Action Plan was
developed in 2000. A consumer survey on hot dog
preparation and consumption was conducted through
he USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline in September. In
addition, food safety messages for consumers were
reevaluated based on findings of the FDA/FSIS
"Risk Assessment of the Public Health Impact of
Foodborne Listeria monocytogenes." The
brochure,
Listeriosis and Food Safety Tips,
was sent to WIC directors, along with a letter
from the FSES Director providing additional
information.
New information about
Listeria was distributed in many forms: a
brochure, Listeriosis and Food Safety Tips;
a video news release (VNR); newspaper features;
and radio interviews. Publications were
distributed through USDA’s Food and Nutrition
Service at regional meetings with school nurses,
and videos were provided for extension food safety
leaders. Outreach to vulnerable populations and
those involved in patient care is ongoing. To
reach those at risk, a letter from the USDA Under
Secretary for Food Safety was sent along with a
video news release to more than 50 groups that
work with at-risk populations.
FSES provided
input to the lead agencies within USDA on this
project. The Dietary Guidelines for
Americans provides easily understood,
science-based information on how Americans can
choose diets that promote good health. The new
guidelines have been improved to be more
consumer-friendly, to contain more specific
scientific recommendations and to address the need
for safe food handling to prevent illness. Food
safety is included as one of the dietary
guidelines for the first time since the
publication was published. The Fight BAC!™
messages are key components of the food safety
guideline focusing on keeping food safe to eat,
particularly the need to keep and prepare foods
safely in the home. Recommendations include
keeping preparation areas and utensils clean;
separating raw, cooked, and ready-to-eat foods;
cooking food to a safe temperature; and chilling
perishable foods promptly.
FSES Participates in
Wal-Mart®
Managers Convention in Dallas
As part of their participation in the
Partnership for Food Safety Education, Wal-Mart®
invited FSES to the Dallas Convention Center to
promote food safety education materials to over
6,000 Wal-Mart® store managers in August 2000.
USDA teamed with the Wal-Mart® Quality Assurance
staff and featured the Fight BAC!™ and FSE
exhibits. The Fight BAC!™ and Thermy™ costume
characters greeted store managers and handed out
food safety education materials. Wal-Mart®
officials developed a PSA highlighting the Fight
BAC!™ and Thermy™ messages. The PSA was aired
during September, National Food Safety Education
MonthSM, in 800 Wal-Mart®
Supercenters nationwide.
Satellite Video Teleconference*
FSES, along with the Partnership for Food Safety
Education and FDA, sponsored a 2-hour satellite
video teleconference, "Partnering Made Easy," on
September 26, 2000. Educators and health
professionals selected from programs throughout
the U.S. were featured speakers. The
teleconference was the kickoff event for the
Partnership's new publication, Using
Partnerships to Fight BAC!™ A Workbook for Local
Food Safety Educators. The workbook is a
step-by-step instruction book for partnering in
the community. Workbooks were distributed to the
168 people who registered for the teleconference
and videotapes of the conference were mailed. The
teleconference was simultaneously available
on the Internet through video streaming on the
FSIS Web site and archived on the USDA Web
site, also.
*Note:
RealPlayer required for viewing.
In
2000, the food
safety education holiday campaign focused on mail
order food safety. The Sending Perishable Foods
by Mail VNR was released twice in October. The
video was uplinked 3 more times in November 2000 and
reached almost 7 million viewers in over 60
stations/broadcast groups.
Also, mail order press
kits were mailed to over 3,500 newspaper and
magazine food editors, including newspapers
targeted to Spanish-speaking populations.
The
mail order press kit
contained an in-depth
article on mail order foods, a fact sheet for
sending and receiving foods, an infographic, and
print ad promoting the Hotline.
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