Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, said FSIS is committed to ensuring food is safe for everyone – especially for at-risk groups – before it gets to the grocery store. “Until we achieve that goal completely, it’s also our responsibility to give consumers additional food safety information,” she added. “So that’s why we have partnered with FDA to get this important information to at-risk persons, their care-givers and others.”
Federal officials said that along with producers, it is the government’s job to prevent food from being contaminated. This includes advising consumers what they can do to keep them and their families safe. For some, it can be a matter of life and death, such as for kidney transplant recipients – one of several at-risk groups for foodborne illness the new national information campaign is trying to reach.
“It’s also important to consumers, particularly for those at high risk for food-borne illness, to have information that they can use to do their part in preventing illness through proper selection of foods and proper preparation of foods,” said Mike Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods, FDA.
