The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline can personally answer your food safety questions on weekdays year-round.
The hotline receives more than 50,000 calls yearly. This toll-free telephone service, which began July 1, 1985, helps prevent foodborne illness by answering questions about the safe storage, handling, and preparation of meat, poultry, and egg products.
Food Safety Questions? Call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline.
If you have questions about meat, poultry, or egg products, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline toll fee at 1-888-674-6854. The Hotline is open year-round Monday through Friday from 10am to 6pm Eastern time and is available in English or Spanish. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day. Check out the FSIS Web site at www.fsis.usda.gov. Send email questions to [email protected].
The hotline is staffed by food safety specialists with backgrounds in home economics, nutrition, and food technology.
The majority of calls come from consumers regarding how to properly handle their food, including food safety during power outages, food manufacturer recalls, foodborne illnesses, and the inspection of meat, poultry, and egg products.
Hotline Answers Millions of Calls
The hotline has answered over 2 million calls as part of USDA's consumer food safety education efforts. Often the first question callers ask is, "Are you a real person?" The hotline is one of the rare services where a live person answers callers individually specific questions one-on-one.
In the more than 35 years of operation, callers have asked the hotline increasingly more sophisticated questions. Now they frequently know the names of bacteria many people had never heard of 10 or 20 years ago.
From novice cooks wondering how long to safely roast a chicken to more experienced food handlers asking about additives, residues, and foodborne bacteria. Hotline food safety specialists have heard it all—2 million times over.
Hotline Services Available in Spanish
Beginning in 2002, the toll-free Hotline extended its service to callers whose first language is Spanish. By touching the appropriate number at the prompt, callers will be connected to a Spanish-speaking food safety specialist who can answer their questions. Callers may also listen to more than 50 food safety messages recorded in Spanish, 24 hours a day.
The hotline is open on Thanksgiving Day from 7:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. Central Time and 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p. m., Eastern Time, but closed on other federal government holidays.
Monique Koerner is the Family and Community Wellness Agent with K-State Research and Extension – Cottonwood District. You may reach her at: 785-628-9430 or [email protected].