At a picnic and wondering if the potato salad is still safe to eat? Government food safety information is now available on the go thanks to a new mobile version of the USDA website Ask Karen.
Submit a query to Karen and a list of related questions and answers will come up. The information is useful and to the point, which is helpful when you are looking for a reliable answer quickly. But the search results can be hit or miss; I sometimes had to scroll through a couple pages of unrelated results before finding the topic I was looking for.
On the bright side, this led to the discovery of some interesting topics, like the government's official instructions for making a turducken. Good to know!
Despite the slightly clunky functionality, this is a site worth bookmarking on your phone for quick and definitive answers to food safety questions.
• Check it out: m.AskKaren.gov
Related: Five Food Safety Myths Debunked!
(Images: USDA)
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a food-centric site such as thekitchn really should never be recommending consulting the USDA recommendations for food safety. unfortunately over the years lobbying efforts and undereducated staff has resulted in a set of food safety guidelines that generally result in awful tasting food. The true science behind making our food safe would suggest much lower internal cooking temperatures than proferred by the USDA. FYI fully cooked pork should be slightly pink, not dry and white. 140 degress Fahrenheit is enough to kill any Trichinella spiralis that may be lurking in your meat.
If I promise not to sue will someone tell me the true internal temp for poultry - one that won't be undercooked, but won't be dry as leather?