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The famous Julia Child once said “people who love to eat are always the best people,” but what would Julia say about eaters who waste food? In the United States, consumers discard about 20 percent of all food purchased. That adds up to approximately 90 billion pounds of food each year, costing each...

People dressed for a holiday party don’t picture themselves sick in bed shortly after the festivities, but that’s what could happen if food on party buffets isn’t handled and served safely. Bacteria are party crashers, and the only housewarming gift they bring is foodborne illness. How do bacteria...

Special holiday series – Blog 1 of 5 As we look forward to spending the holidays with friends and family and making meals and memories together, we all want to put good food on the table and do it safely. We especially want to keep the threat of food poisoning at bay. Over the next few days, we will...

Each of us has the power to reduce food waste in our homes. As the USDA Food Loss and Waste Liaison, I would like to share with you three of my favorite ways to keep food waste at home to a minimum.

Each year, the average American family of four loses $1,500 to uneaten food — that’s about 1,160 pounds of food. With Thanksgiving around the corner, it is timely to think about how we as individuals can keep our household food waste in check.

Special holiday series – Blog 2 of 5 The countdown to turkey day is underway! To help soon-to-be busy cooks prepare healthy and safe holiday meals, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen and I are providing low-cost holiday recipes with simple food safety tips. Yesterday we posted...

Special holiday series – Blog 3 of 5 Starting to plan your holiday menu? USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen and I want to help. This week we are providing low-cost holiday recipes that incorporate simple food safety tips to help you prepare healthy and safe holiday meals. So...

Special holiday series – Blog 5 of 5 Over the past week, Dr. Janey Thornton, Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, and I have provided low-cost recipes incorporating simple food safety tips to help you prepare healthy and safe holiday meals. So far, we’ve posted recipes...

We hope you had a joyful (and food-safe) holiday meal. We suspect that like most of us you’ll be enjoying the goodies for days to come. One highlight of our run-up to the holiday was our live Facebook chat on food safety on Nov. 12. USDA food safety expert Diane Van took questions on a variety of...

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service started its Fourth of July “party” a little early this year, hosting a bilingual Twitter party on June 28 to answer its tweeps’ food safety questions in advance of any gatherings they are hosting. “ Ask Karen,” FSIS’ virtual food safety representative, and...