FSIS Home Food Safety and Inspection Service
United States Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. 20250-3700

USDA Meat And Poultry Hotline

Updated October 01, 2003

Contact the USDA Meat And Poultry Hotline!

USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline

Call Toll-free,
1-888-MPHotline
(1-888-674-6854)
or
E-mail Us

By phone or on the Web,
answers to your questions on...

  • safe storage
  • safe handling
  • safe preparation
  • product dating
  • product content
  • power outage
  • much more!

By Phone

We can answer your food safety questions. This toll-free telephone service, which began July 1, 1985, helps prevent foodborne illness specifically by answering questions about the safe storage, handling, and preparation of meat, poultry, and egg products. The Hotline is staffed by food safety specialists with backgrounds in home economics, nutrition, and food technology.

You may speak with a food safety specialist -- in English or Spanish -- from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays year round. An extensive menu of recorded food safety messages may be heard 24 hours a day. Dial the nationwide toll-free number, 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854). The toll-free number for the hearing impaired (TTY) is 1-800-256-7072.

(The Hotline is closed on Federal government holidays, with the exception of Thanksgiving Day. Hours of operation on Thanksgiving are 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time.)

On the Web

computer *Read or print many of our Food Safety Publications!

*Get the answers to the Hotline's most Frequently Asked Questions!

*Send a question or comment by e-mail to the Hotline staff!

For More Information

 

*Note: To read and print a PDF file, you must have the Adobe® Acrobat® Reader installed on your PC. You can download a version suitable for your system, free of charge, from the Adobe Home Page. Adobe also provides tools and information to help make Adobe PDF files accessible to users with visual disabilities at http://access.adobe.com.

dividing line

For Further Information Contact:
FSIS Food Safety Education Staff
Meat and Poultry Hotline:

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