USDA offers food safety tips for mailing food gifts this holiday season - (USDA News Release)
December 6, 2007 – 7:36 pmWashington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) understands that many Americans enjoy cooking foods that are family favorites and mailing these items to family and friends. Others choose to order food from catalogs, over the Internet or by phone. So the gift is in the mail, but is it safe?
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recommends that consumers take preventative steps to ensure that perishable foods be packaged and shipped to maintain a safe temperature so that mailed food items reach their final destination safe for consumption, whether the items are sent to domestic or foreign addresses.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), perishable food held at unsafe temperatures is one of the top causes of foodborne illness. Foodborne bacteria that may be present on perishable food grow fastest at temperatures between 40 °F and 140 °F, also known as the “Danger Zone,” and those […]
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