By Pork staff (6/9/2005)
A new national campaign intends to educate consumers about the importance of keeping the temperature of their home refrigerators at 40 degrees F or below. The best way to do this is to use a refrigerator thermometer. In reality, a national study shows that 30 percent of consumers know they should use a thermometer, but only 20 percent actually do.
The Partnership for Food Safety Education launched the campaign in response to the revised listeria monocytogenes risk assessment released by the USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003. Proper refrigeration could reduce the risk of listeriosis by two-thirds, according to the assessment.
For more information, go to www.fightbac.org.