Penalty Free Chicken Wings for Game Day

From USDA:

Posted by Amelia Kermis, MPH CHES, Food Safety Education Staff, Food Safety and Inspection Service, on January 27, 2015 at 11:30 AM

Chicken wings with celery.

The star of most Super Bowl parties is the chicken wing, crispy and covered in a delicious sauce. If you are going to make wings for your Super Bowl party, follow these steps to make sure your dinner’s star player is safe to eat. You don’t want to get a penalty for giving your guests food poisoning.

Baking Your Wings

To start baking wings, preheat your oven to 400 °F. Meanwhile, place your wings in a rimmed baking sheet. To ensure maximum crispiness, do not crowd the wings and place them in a single layer.

After 30 minutes of cooking take out the pan, flip the wings and continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes. This will ensure both sides of the wings are crispy. Read on to learn how to properly take the internal temperature of a sample of your wings before your serve them. Taking the internal temperature is the only way to know if the wings are fully cooked and ready to eat.

Frying Your Wings

If you want to fry your wings, and are using a skillet, fill oil no more than 2 inches from the top of the skillet to allow space for the oil to rise. It is best if you have a candy or deep frying thermometer to ensure the oil reaches and stays at 375 °F. When your oil reaches that temperature you’re ready to cook.

Before frying, remove the chicken wings from the refrigerator and pat dry the wings to prevent oil splatter.

Make sure not to overcrowd the chicken wings as you place them in the fryer. If crowded, wings can turn our undercooked and increase the chances of giving your guests food poisoning.

While it is important to test the internal temperature of the chicken wings to ensure they are cooked, DO NOT test the temperature while the wings are submerged in oil. This will lead to an inaccurate temperature reading. To take the temperature of your wings, place them on a clean plate covered with paper towels.

Taking the Temperature

Whether you are frying or baking your wings, it’s important to take the internal temperature of multiple wings with a clean food thermometer. For an accurate reading, insert the meat thermometer into the thickest area of the wing being careful to avoid the bone.

If the wings are below the minimum safe internal temperature of 165 °F, return to the oven or submerge again in the hot oil.

After Cooking

Coat your delicious wings with a sauce of your choosing and remember to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours. Cooked food left out longer than 2 hours can rapidly grow bacteria making it unsafe to eat.

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USDA Proposes Tougher Food Safety Standards for Chicken and Turkey

From USDA:

Posted by Al Almanza, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, on January 21, 2015 at 2:00 PM

The graphic above illustrates how proposed new federal standards could help reduce poultry-related Salmonella illnesses by an estimated 50,000 each year. Click to enlarge.

It’s no secret that Americans eat a lot of chicken and turkey. In fact, USDA estimates that a single American will eat 102 pounds of poultry in 2015. It is USDA’s job to ensure the meat and poultry products we enjoy are also safe to eat, and that means adapting federal food safety regulations to meet changes in production technology, scientific understanding of foodborne illness, and consumer demand.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 1 million Americans contract foodborne Salmonella poisoning each year, and 200,000 of those illnesses can be attributed to poultry. Today, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service proposed new food safety standards that would reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter, another common cause of foodborne illness, on ground chicken and turkey, as well as chicken legs, breasts and wings, which represent the majority of poultry items that Americans purchase and feed their families.

By taking specific aim at lowering contamination on these products, an estimated 50,000 cases of foodborne illness could be averted annually.

Since 1996, FSIS has used pathogen reduction performance standards to measure the food safety performance of meat and poultry businesses.  With this proposal, FSIS would make the performance standards for ground poultry tougher to meet, which would reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter levels on ground poultry nationwide. FSIS implemented performance standards for whole chickens in 1996 but has since learned that Salmonella contamination levels increase as chicken is further processed into parts. By creating a first-time-ever standard for chicken parts, and by performing regulatory testing at a point closer to the final product, FSIS can greatly reduce consumer exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.

In addition, FSIS is proposing to be more strategic in the way we schedule microbial tests for Salmonella and Campylobacter at poultry facilities so we can gain a better picture of the food safety realities from business to business. Currently, we schedule a “set” of 52 samples at a facility, which are taken on consecutive days once the set is started. Facilities are categorized according to the number of samples that test positive in their set. Some retailers will only purchase chicken from the top category, so companies are motivated to be among those performers who meet or do better than the national performance standard. By stretching a sample set out over the course of a year so that samples are not collected on consecutive days, and by not alerting the company that the sample will be collected, results will be less affected by intermittent seasonal or production changes, and it will take longer for a company to move from a lower to a higher category. This should prompt companies to take meaningful steps that have a long lasting impact on the safety of their products.

The steps we are proposing are major pieces of FSIS’ Salmonella Action Plan, which the agency developed and released in 2013 to reduce Salmonella illnesses from meat, beef and pork. Collectively, these three foods contribute to about one third of all Salmonella illnesses, and FSIS aims to significantly reduce that number to meet the U.S. government’s Healthy People 2020 goals.

It's Quite a Pickle To Be In

From USDA:

Posted by Kim Kaplan, Agricultural Research Service, on January 6, 2015 at 1:00 PM

Pickles of many kinds fill grocery store shelves, all of them safe for consumers thanks to the work of an ARS food safety lab in Raleigh, North Carolina.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

Pickles are a popular food, but are even trendier today as more and more craft brands show up in stores and farmers’ markets all over the country. But did you know USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has helped commercial pickle-makers, from small brands to the nation’s largest, meet the highest standards of food safety?

While pickling—storing in an acid liquid, usually vinegar—has been recognized as a food-preserver since long before the discovery of bacteria, the kind of data that today’s precise food safety standards require was not established until recently.

In the late 1990s, incidents of bacterial contamination in acidic foods like unpasteurized orange juice and apple cider, which are the same pH as pickles, alerted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that pathogens, such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7, survived at more acidic pH levels in juices than previously believed—leading to new juice regulations. It also raised collateral questions about these pathogens in acidified foods, such as pickles, and prompted FDA to issue draft guidance applicable to the pickle industry.

Even though there haven’t been any food-borne illnesses from commercial pickles in 50 years, no one knew exactly how to reach the 99.999 percent reduction in bacterial pathogens FDA now considered appropriate. This also needed to be done without hurting the quality or taste of pickles.

It was a job for the researchers at the ARS Food Science Research Unit in Raleigh, North Carolina, the only national laboratory that works full time on the processing of commercial pickled vegetables. Every type of pickle and pickled vegetable would require its own study and set of numbers.

With significant support and funding from the pickle industry, the first ones the lab tackled were the pasteurized pickles—dill, bread and butter, sweet, sour, gherkin, kosher—the ones that pretty much dominate the grocery store aisles. They found it took less than 1.2 minutes at 160°F (71°C) in brine at pH 4.1 to reach the 99.999 percent reduction level.

Then the scientists moved on to the acidified, shelf-stable pickled vegetables like peppers and okra, which do not undergo pasteurization because they would fall apart in the heat. These products are instead made safe through the combined bacteria-killing effects of low pH and high organic acid concentration.

Today, all U.S.-produced pickled vegetables—a multi-billion-dollar a year industry—are made following the standards set by the ARS Food Science Research Unit’s work.

This wasn’t the first time the lab revolutionized the pickle industry. For instance, John L. Etchells, the lab’s research leader from 1937 to 1975, improved the pickle fermentation process and reduced spoilage by such a significant amount that pickles became so much less expensive dill pickle slices became a standard accompaniment on hamburgers in restaurants everywhere, and today, they are 25 percent of the pickle market.

After the ARS Food Science Research Unit helped reduce the amount of spoilage in the pickle making business industry, pickles became so much less expensive that dill pickle slices became popular on burgers in restaurants everywhere.

It's all about the Sides

From USDA:

Posted by Amelia Kermis, MPH CHES, Food Safety Education Staff, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, on December 18, 2014 at 9:30 AM

By keeping your side dish components separate, you can avoid cross-contamination.

Main dishes may dominate most holiday tables, but the space on your plate will probably be filled with more sides than whatever holiday meat is served. Proper food handling and cooking will make sure these items come out just as safe and delicious as your main meat.

Making a safe side dish can be even harder than making a main dish safely because side dishes usually contain many ingredients. The more ingredients in the dish the greater the opportunity there is for cross-contamination. By keeping your side dish components separate, you can avoid cross-contamination.

Below is a list of holiday side dishes that offer unique food safety challenges.

Casseroles

Kugel, a traditional Jewish dish, and many other types of casseroles served during winter holidays, contain eggs. As with all dishes containing egg, Salmonella bacteria are a concern. You cannot tell if an egg contains Salmonella. In fact, the bacterium has been found inside even a clean, unbroken egg.

The only way to make sure these dishes are safe to eat is by fully cooking the eggs they contain. You know the dish is fully cooked when a thermometer inserted into the center of the mixture reaches 160 °F.

Cook casseroles completely at one time – do not partially cook them and then finish cooking later. Harmful bacteria will grow between the time you start and finish cooking, even if you refrigerate the food in between. Those bacteria may produce toxins that can make you sick.

Meaty Sides

Lots of holiday side dishes include meat. Whether you’re serving Brussels sprouts and bacon, stuffing with sausage, or another meaty accompaniment, make side dishes containing meat with extra care. The following tips will help ensure your meaty sides are food safe:

• Cook raw meat, poultry, or shellfish ingredients to safe temperatures before adding to the rest of the side’s ingredients. This reduces the risk of food poisoning from the bacteria that may be found in the raw ingredients.
• Stuffing is safe to eat when the center reaches 165 °F. This is particularly important for stuffing inside a roast or containing meat.
• Resist the temptation to taste your side dish before it is fully cooked. Eating undercooked meat, poultry, and egg products can place you at increased risk for food poisoning.
• Cook your meaty side dishes after you prepare your sides that will not be cooked. This prevents cross-contamination.

Ready-to-Eat Sides

If you are in a rush this holiday and plan to pick up a meat or cheese tray to bring to a party, make sure the tray is refrigerated in the store. You should also keep the tray cold until serving because these cut items provide bacteria a wonderful environment to replicate in. Be careful to keep it separated from raw meat and poultry.

If you want to serve precooked appetizers such as mini quiche make sure you have your food thermometer nearby. Check the internal temperatures of a sampling of these items to confirm they’ve reached a safe internal temperature before serving.

Get the Most Out of Your Holiday Roast

From USDA:

Posted by Amelia Kermis, MPH CHES, Food Safety Education Staff, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, on December 16, 2014 at 2:00 PM

Roasting is the recommended method for cooking tender meats. To roast, meat is placed on a rack in a shallow, uncovered pan and is cooked by the indirect dry heat of an oven.

The traditional centerpiece of many holiday meals served this time of year is the roast. Whether you use pork, beef, goose, turkey, or chicken, the most popular means to cook your meat of choice is in the oven.

The roasting recipe that was handed down to you from your great grandmother may need a little updating though. Whether it asks you to marinate at room temperature overnight, or cook until ‘the juices run clear,’ some instructions in heirloom recipes might be outdated. To help you make the dish your great grandmother intended, we pulled together a list of holiday roasting tips.

Beef, Veal, Pork and Lamb: To avoid overcooking beef, veal, pork and lamb roasts use a meat thermometer. These roasts should be removed from the oven when they reach an internal temperature of 145 °F. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming. If you’re concerned about serving a dry roast, use a continuous read thermometer or start checking the temperature of your meat earlier then the recipe’s cooking directions.

Turkey, Duck, and Goose: Domestic ducklings and geese have a great deal of fat. While it helps them float when swimming, fat is undesirable in a cooked duck. Therefore, it’s recommended to prick or score the skin of a whole duck before cooking so that most of the fat will render out. These birds should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 °F as measured by a food thermometer. Temperatures should be taken in three areas of the bird: the thickest part of the breast, the innermost part of the wing, and the innermost part of the thigh. For more information on safe poultry handling and cooking, read our Thanksgiving material.

For approximate cooking times to use in meal planning, visit FoodSafety.gov. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures but at the recommended temperatures the food is safe to eat. Following the guidelines at FoodSafety.gov will ensure that your roast brings you back to holidays past.

Tis the Season to Avoid Raw Meat

From USDA:

Posted by Megan Buckles, Congressional and Public Affairs Staff, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, on December 11, 2014 at 10:00 AM

Everyone loves spending time with family and friends enjoying special winter treats, but you might want to think twice before reaching for some traditional dishes. Raw meat dishes like tartare may be more common this time of year, but they still come with health risks.

“Tiger meat” is another traditional winter dish. Despite the name, this dish is not made using meat from tigers. It’s a holiday mixture of raw ground beef, raw eggs, onions and other seasonings served on rye bread or crackers. Beef tartare, tiger meat, and dishes alike have ground beef and eggs that pose a health hazard when eaten undercooked or raw.

Not All Traditions Are Safe

Raw ground beef has been associated with several large outbreaks of foodborne illness. In 2012, an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened 17 people in Wisconsin was caused by this traditional dish.

E. coli infections can ruin your holiday, causing severe stomach cramps and diarrhea, kidney failure, and even death. E. coli is particularly dangerous for people with weakened immune systems, children, and older adults.

In addition to E. coli, eating raw ground beef and raw egg can expose you to Salmonella, Listeria, and Campylobacter bacterium.

Cook To the Right Temperature

Most bacteria in meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs can be killed by thorough cooking. To prevent illness, ground beef should always be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 °F. The only way to tell if the temperature is right is with a food thermometer. Color is not an accurate indicator that ground beef is fully cooked. Also, if you’re cooking another dish like meatballs or meatloaf, remember not to try any of the dishes before cooking, even if you just want to taste the seasoning.

Raw beef being ground into a bowl.

Microwave Pasteurization: A New Industrial Process Producing High Quality and Safe Food

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Hongda Chen, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, on April 18, 2014 at 2:00 PM

A Washington State University-led research team member works on the prototype microwave assisted pasteurization system (MAPS) unit. MAPS allows packaged foods to be safely processed more quickly and at lower cost than conventional processes. Photo courtesy of Washington State University.

During the month of April we will take a closer look at USDA’s Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America, highlighting ways USDA researchers are improving the lives of Americans in ways you might never imagine, like innovative ways to make food safer.

More than 90 percent of American households have microwave ovens where people heat their food, yet this same technology is seldom used for large-scale production in the food industry.

As home cooks know, microwave ovens do not excel at heating food evenly.  The lack of commercial-scale microwave processing technology is, in part, due to the challenge of designing equipment that is capable of pasteurization – heating all of the food evenly to a predetermined temperature for a certain length of time.  Pasteurization makes food safe to eat, by inactivating bacterial and viral pathogens that can make people sick.

Food safety is the top priority for the food industry and has long been one of the priority research areas for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).  With the help of a $5 million grant from NIFA, a team of scientists and engineers led by Washington State University (WSU) have developed an innovative, pilot-scale microwave assisted pasteurization system (MAPS) to rapidly and evenly heat packaged food products.  The team included University of Tennessee, North Carolina State University, the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center, and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Eastern Regional Research Center.

The prototype is a 915 MHz microwave that processes foods that are both safe and of high quality.  Initial results show that the quality of microwave-pasteurized foods, such as mussels, shrimp, and tofu, is better than using conventional thermal processing methods.

An additional benefit to this technology is that microwave heating time is shorter than conventional thermal processing, and the shorter time means producing higher food quality at lower energy output and cost.

Food companies can now use MAPS to test a wide range of food products and adapt the technology to suit their needs. WSU anticipates licensing this technology to a start-up company, Food Chain Safety, for commercialization in the coming months.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education, and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues that impact people’s daily lives and the nation’s future.  More information is available at www.nifa.usda.gov.

New Frontiers of Food Safety

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Joyce Hunter, Deputy CIO, Policy and Planning, U.S. Department of Agriculture, on April 17, 2014 at 10:00 AM

Over the last few decades, food safety has been marked by profound social, economic and political evolutions and technological breakthroughs such as 3D printing of food and the adoption of laboratory testing for pathogens. Laboratory testing for pathogens continues to evolve with the advancement of genome sequencing. However, there is always more to do.  There is a potential for advancing existing and promoting greater gains in the future.

What if there were more apps that could allow farmers, producers, consumers and stakeholders access to USDA data? The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) posts a variety of reports using data collected while inspecting and testing meat and poultry products, but more and more, people want direct access to the information.  For instance, what if a consumer could walk into a grocery store, scan a product, and instantly know where it was produced or where it was farmed? What if a farmer had an app that directly informed them about crop forecasting or crop variations? What if people and organizations who would never have had the opportunity before could individually and collectively mash up data in unique and exciting ways, leading to new opportunities to solve complex problems? The potential is endless as more tools are becoming available.

Liberating data in machine and human readable formats is a 21st century way of sharing information.  By sharing data and the tools to analyze it, people can develop new insights and applications to help themselves.  For agriculture, shared research can move us all closer to addressing the global food demands on the horizon. Our food and agricultural challenges have no borders and neither should our data.  At USDA, we recognize the importance of communities collaborating and generating ideas.  Open data in agriculture allows us to pool our existing resources while pioneering fresh, new approaches to tackle the global challenges that lie ahead.

One of the USDA data sets published this quarter offered Salmonella and Campylobacter datasets for the first time. FSIS is dedicated to reducing Salmonella as seen by the Salmonella Action Plan, as well as committed to being transparent.  “The Food Safety and Inspection Service recognizes the value in public data access and sees this dataset as an important step in that direction.  We’re interested to see how the public uses this dataset to help keep food safe and prevent foodborne illnesses,” said Christopher Alvares, Director of FSIS’ Data Analysis and Integration Staff.

Citizens can realize considerable value if more open policies, specifically Open Data, become more widely adopted throughout our agencies. In a recent study published by McKinsey, in which it examined the anticipated impact of Open Data across seven domains (education, transportation, consumer products, electricity, oil and gas, health care, and consumer finance), it found that Open Data could contribute a minimum of $3 trillion in additional value annually. So for areas of economic struggle, or where there is an emphasis on revenue generation and job creation, Open Data could lead to new opportunities across a number of industries and, by extension, across their societies as a whole.

"Safety Datapalooza" Brings More Usability of FSIS Salmonella Data

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Megan Buckles, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, on April 15, 2014 at 10:00 AM

On Jan. 14, 2014, nearly 400 people participated in the second annual “Safety Datapalooza” at USDA headquarters.  The event, hosted by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy and Office of Public Engagement, U.S. Department of Transportation and USDA, recognized innovators from the private, nonprofit and academic sectors who have freely used available government data to build products, services and apps that advance public safety in creative and powerful ways.

During a breakout session, Christopher Alvares, Director of FSIS’ Data Analysis and Integration Staff, explained the agency’s recently released Salmonella Action Plan and testing programs aimed at reducing the number of illnesses associated with FSIS-regulated products using new standards, strategies and innovation.  “FSIS produces regular reports on Salmonella contamination in regulated product, but the data had never been available in machine-readable format or in a single place,” said Alvares.  Up until now, this data had been available only from report to report spanning many years.  Today, this data is available as one source and in one place.

After the Safety Datapalooza, FSIS wanted to encourage the spirit of innovation and reinforce its commitment to maintaining transparency by posting the FSIS Quarterly Salmonella and Campylobacter Summary dataset on Data.gov. The data comes from FSIS’ Quarterly Salmonella Reports going back to 2006 and lists the numbers of samples tested and the percentage that tested positive. The samples come from routine verification sampling programs conducted by FSIS and are collected by FSIS inspectors at federally inspected meat and poultry establishments and tested at FSIS testing laboratories.

FSIS is dedicated to transparency and reducing Salmonella as seen by the Salmonella Action Plan.  “One of the agency’s goals, as stated in our Strategic Data Analysis Plan, is to improve the accessibility and usability of FSIS data. We wanted to know what the public could do with the data to help prevent illnesses and what other data may be needed for better mashups and results,” said Alvares.

The release of this data builds upon the Safety Data Initiative launched by the White House in May 2012.  This initiative aims to make government data relating to every aspect of public and product safety, from crime to roadway safety to food safety, more accessible, as well as encourage the development of innovative apps and services fueled by those data to empower Americans with the information and tools to make smarter, safer choices.

For more information about Salmonella and the Salmonella Action Plan, visit the FSIS Salmonella and Salmonellosis website.

In Indiana, the Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program Opens Meatier Markets for Small Processors

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Elanor Starmer, National Coordinator for Local and Regional Food Systems, on April 8, 2014 at 1:00 PM

Lou’s Gourmet Sausage, a small family business run by the Vinciguerra brothers of Cleveland, Ohio, takes sausage seriously.  For over fifty years, the company has been supplying Cleveland restaurants and grocery stores with Sicilian, Andouille, Cajun, mild and hot chicken and veal sausages. But despite strong demand for its products, it took a USDA program to make Lou’s sausage available outside Ohio.

In 2012, Ohio was the first state to join USDA’s Cooperative Interstate Shipment program (CIS).  The program, authorized under the 2008 Farm Bill, allows inspected and approved small state-inspected meat processors, like Lou’s Gourmet Sausage, to bear an official USDA Mark of Inspection and ship meat and poultry across state lines. Previously, only products from federally inspected plants could be sold in other states. To participate in the program, state certified plants like Lou’s Sausage work with USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) to integrate their systems to meet federal inspection standards.  Once inspected and approved for compliance, these smaller plants can ship across state lines and are poised for bigger market opportunities.

This week, Indiana followed Ohio’s lead and joined North Dakota and Wisconsin to become the fourth state to participate in the Cooperative Interstate Shipment program. Each time a state works with FSIS to participate in the program, it is expanding market opportunities for the region’s small meat and poultry producers – many smaller producers process their animals at small state-inspected plants – while strengthening state and local economies and increasing consumer access to safe, locally-produced meat. In Indiana, it will mean that meat processed by selected smaller operations will be available beyond the Hoosier state.

Interstate shipment may not sound like a local food issue, but CIS actually has important implications for local food producers and consumers – especially when one state has a major market right across its border, as is the case with southern Wisconsin and Chicago. Implementing CIS is part of USDA’s broader strategy to strengthen local and regional food systems and to help small and midsize producers access new market opportunities. USDA coordinates its work on these issues under the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, which includes a variety of resources to help producers and businesses tap into consumer demand for local foods. One such resource, a guide called Tools for Small and Midsized Livestock and Poultry; USDA Resources for Producers and Processors, was released in March as part of a wider package of support for America’s small and mid-sized farmers and ranchers.

FSIS’ Small Plant Help Desk, a customer service phone line at 1-877-FSIShelp, is also a valuable resource for small and midsize meat and poultry plants and can address issues and answer questions specific to smaller meat processors. The Small Plant Help Desk has fielded over 10,000 inquiries since 2009.

For businesses like Lou’s Gourmet Sausage, USDA’s commitment to local food and to small and midsize producers is epitomized by efforts such as the Cooperative Interstate Shipment program and the Small Plant Help Desk. With these resources and opportunities, small processors are accessing new markets – and consumers are happily digging in.

Secretary's Column: USDA Science You Can See

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on April 4, 2014 at 12:00 PM

While most people have a mental image of research that involves scientists in lab coats, bubbling test tubes and beakers, and technical language that can seem complex, much of the groundbreaking research conducted by USDA scientists actually ends up on your plate, in your home, or on your back. Their discoveries in the lab truly translate into science you can see.

For example, many of us make a conscious effort to eat healthier and cut calories, but it can be tough when faced with a favorite snack, like French fries. USDA scientists have figured out a way to make French fries healthier. Before frying, scientists exposed potato strips to a few minutes of infrared heat. This forms a crispy outer shell on the outside of the fries, which helps to reduce their oil uptake and ultimately reduces calories per serving. If adopted commercially, this method is great news for both food processors and our waistlines.

Or maybe you’re a healthy snack lover and looking for a way to make your snacks pack an even healthier punch. USDA scientists have found a way to add oat fiber to yogurt without affecting its flavor or texture. Yogurt is already a pretty healthy snack, and adding addition fiber can only help—studies have indicated that oat fiber can help to improve heart health.

If you are lactose-intolerant, you may use Lactaid™ so you can still enjoy dairy products. USDA scientists helped to develop the basis for that product, too. USDA scientists also conducted the core research behind ChoiceBatter, a gluten-free rice flour batter that is now being marketed and sold by CrispTek, LLC.

For those who’ve ever woken up late before a big work meeting, USDA scientists have got your back here, too. They helped to develop cotton fabric that is wrinkle-free and fire-resistant.

If you’re a cat person, you may someday see USDA science impact your pet. USDA scientists have developed a kitty litter product that’s nearly 100 percent biodegradable and made from spent grains, often referred to as dried distiller’s grains (DDGs), leftover from the process of making corn ethanol. DDGs are often used as cattle feed, but this new product may provide a higher-value market for the tons of DDGs leftover after ethanol production.

And, to the delight of farmers and people with noses everywhere, USDA scientists are part of a team of researchers investigating ways to combat the brown marmorated stink bug, which in addition to having a distinct odor, can also cause serious damage to valuable agricultural crops.

These are just some of the ways that research conducted by USDA scientists and our partner research institutions touch your daily life. Beyond that, agricultural research also helps to boost the economy. Studies have shown that every dollar invested in agricultural research returns $20 to the economy. In the past five years alone, research by USDA scientists has led to award of 215 patents covering a wide range of topics and discoveries. One of our research agencies, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), currently has 380 active licenses of ARS-developed technology that are supporting new businesses and job opportunities across the country.

The recently-signed 2014 Farm Bill will help to build on these accomplishments by establishing a new research foundation that leverages private sector funding to support groundbreaking agricultural research. You can follow our progress in implementing the new farm bill and establishing the research foundation at www.usda.gov/farmbill.

Thanks to the new Farm Bill, we can continue the vital research and innovation that have enhanced food safety and nutrition, made farming and ranching more efficient, and improved quality of life for millions of people in the United States and around the world.

Full Disclosure: Changes to Poultry Inspections Needed to Protect Public Health

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Al Almanza, Administrator, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, on September 4, 2013 at 10:18 AM

Cross posted from Food Safety News:

For the past 15 years, USDA conducted a pilot project to inform how we modernize our inspection process – all to ensure that meat and poultry is safe to eat. Today, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), released a report on the project, known as the HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project (HIMP), and how FSIS has relied on it to propose a modernized approach to inspecting poultry.

While an initial scan of the press coverage may lead you to believe that GAO discredits this proposal, that is not the case. GAO gave HIMP a thorough review and made just two recommendations, both of which FSIS is already working to fulfill.

GAO chose not to include some facts that also deserve public disclosure. FSIS put forward this proposal because data shows that a system like HIMP will prevent at least 5,000 more foodborne illnesses annually. The study that FSIS has conducted of HIMP provides an appropriate basis on which to judge the merits of this system. Approximately 10 years ago, FSIS asked an independent group of experts in poultry microbiology, statistical evaluation, poultry food safety and public health to evaluate our study.

These experts supported FSIS’ study design and found that that our approach was valid. But GAO’s report does not mention this food safety conclusion.

GAO’s report also assumes that the basis for moving forward with this proposal is to improve efficiency and save taxpayer dollars. Although it does accomplish both of those things, as FSIS made clear to GAO, this proposal is first and foremost about making food safer. As an agency responsible above all for protecting consumers from foodborne illness, we are obligated to ensure a more modern and better system at hand. In other words GAO did not evaluate this from a public health angle – Rates of illness caused by Salmonella and Campylobacter have been stagnant, even showing occasional rises, in recent years. We must reverse this trend, and if we are to do so, one thing is clear: we cannot continue inspecting poultry the way we have been for over 50 years.

Here is what the data tells us:

• Under the HIMP, FSIS inspectors complete more inspection tasks “off the line” that verify that the plants they work in continuously satisfy food safety performance standards.
• Fecal material, the primary avenue for pathogen contamination, appears about half as often in HIMP establishments as it does in non-HIMP establishments. HIMP establishments are also checked four times more often for fecal material by FSIS inspectors as are non HIMP establishments.
• The average positive rate for Salmonella in HIMP establishments is 20% lower than the average positive rate in non-pilot establishments.

If finalized and implemented broadly, this new inspection system would enable FSIS to better fulfill our food safety mission. Nothing in the GAO’s report contradicts this basic fact.

Farmers in Alabama Reach More Customers with Electronic Benefit Transfer

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USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Erin Swanson-Hall, Southeast Region Deputy Regional Administrator and Aaron Wiley, Southeast Region Public Affairs Specialist, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, on August 9, 2013 at 1:07 PM

Bartenfelder Farms at Baltimore’s Farmers Market and Bazaar in Baltimore, MD. Vendors now accept Baltimore Farmers Market and Bazaar tokens, thanks to the new wireless connected electronic card reader that accepts the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Nutrition Service’s (FNS) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards, Baltimore Bucks, and debit cards. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

What Agriculture Under Secretary Concannon calls a win-win situation, is taking root in rural Alabama with help from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and state officials.  Local farmers’ markets are getting authorized to accept Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards which will allow them to expand their customer base and offer Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants healthy and local produce.

With federal grant money provided to states through September 30, 2013, eligible farmers’ markets and now direct marketing farmers are receiving free wireless point-of-sale (POS) devices. As part of the Food and Nutrition Service’s (FNS) StrikeForce efforts to reach out to communities in persistent poverty stricken areas, its Southeast Regional Office recently offered three farmers’ market sign-up days in Madison, Selma, and Robertsdale, Alabama.

Sign-up days were a collaborative effort between FNS, the Alabama Farmers Market Authority and the Alabama Department of Human Resources, with a primary goal to serve as a one-stop shop for farmers in StrikeForce counties. FNS staff was on hand to provide one-on-one assistance to farmers with electronic applications. FNS approved markets, and EBT providers approved applications for POS devices onsite.

We’re pleased to report that efforts resulted in 40 farmers now authorized and plus seven pending to accept SNAP EBT. Alabama will soon have more than 100 farmers’ markets and direct marketing farmers that accept SNAP EBT. That means much more access to fresh fruits and vegetables for SNAP clients in the State. Before, Alabama had 60 SNAP EBT approved farmers markets and direct marketing farmers—that’s a 70 percent increase!

All of the markets hope to have their devices in a few weeks so they can begin accepting SNAP benefits. The list of authorized farmers’ markets and direct marketing farmers will be shared with the Alabama Department of Human Resources’ county office directors to help spread the word to Alabama SNAP participants of the new locations they’ll have to purchase fresh produce.

Secretary's Column: Celebrating America's Farmers Markets

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on August 9, 2013 at 12:30 PM

Over the first week of August, local markets across the country celebrated National Farmers Market Week.

Farmers markets are an important part of America’s diverse agriculture sector, providing unique benefits to communities across our nation. They give Americans a chance to learn about agriculture by meeting some of the people who grow and raise our food. They provide valuable marketing opportunities for small and beginning farmers – many of whom scale up to larger regional markets and other institutions.  And they help expand access to locally-grown foods that are in greater demand than ever before.

We have seen incredible growth in the number of farmers markets over the past few years. Today, according to USDA’s National Farmers Market Directory, more than 8,100 local markets are in operation – up from about 5,000 markets just a few years ago.

Sales of local foods have skyrocketed along with the popularity of farmers markets. In 2005, local food sales totaled about $1 billion across the nation. Last year, according to industry estimates, sales of local foods totaled nearly $7 billion.

At USDA, we believe that strengthening local and regional food systems, including farmers markets, will be a cornerstone of a revitalized rural economy.

Under the Obama Administration, USDA has helped nearly 450 farmers market and other direct-marketing projects in every state, under our Farmers Market Promotion Program. We’ve also supported nearly 300 projects to help farmers develop and sell new, value-added products through our Value-Added Producer Grants program.

We have helped increase the number of markets that accept EBT technology – which allows folks to use nutrition assistance benefits to buy fresh, farmers market produce – by nearly 100 percent in the last two years.

And to be sure American agriculture is ready to meet the growing demand for local products, we’ve helped thousands of small producers to get started and keep growing.

We want to continue these efforts – and to do so, USDA continues to urge Congress to pass a comprehensive Food, Farm and Jobs Bill.  This would expand USDA support for local and regional marketing opportunities, including farmers markets, around the country.

This week we joined folks around the country in celebrating our nation’s thousands of farmers markets. More Americans than ever have a thriving farmers market in their city or town – and by providing support to grow and strengthen these markets, we can create even more opportunity for American agriculture.