Summer is here, and (per tradition) people are celebrating by handling raw hamburger meat and eating outdoors. It's appropriate, then, that the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have chosen today to launch their new multimedia public service campaign promoting food safety.
The "Food Safe Families" campaign will span English- and Spanish-language television as well as print, radio and web ads. The USDA will even participate in an open Twitter discussion on Thursday at 10 AM Pacific time to answer any questions the public may have about 4th-of-July grilling safety. (To join, use the hashtag #checksteps.)
The campaign's cornerstone is a series of four humorous ads promoting the four steps to safe food preparation: cleaning hands and utensils, separating raw meat from other foods, chilling raw and prepared foods, and cooking food thoroughly.
The campaign represents not only a preference for humor over scare tactics, but also government officials' understanding that using multiple popular media is necessary to reach a modern public.
Previously: USDA to launch campaign on food safety
Via HealthWatch
