According to a recent survey, food safety was the most memorable food story in the media last year. Meanwhile, with over 100 million users and 2 billion “tweets” per quarter, Twitter is taking the social media landscape by force. Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of discussion about the food system in the 140-character “twitterverse.”

Here is our guide on who to follow on Twitter for food safety news, discussion, and expertise:

@foodsafetynews Apologies for the shameless self promotion, but Food Safety News is a great food safety follow. We post all our daily headlines, link to breaking news, respond to queries, and periodically live-tweet food-safety related events, many of which are happening in our nation’s capital.

@ifpti – The International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI), recently founded to standardize food safety training, shares news, upcoming trainings, and events.

@foodbuglady – Food safety microbiologist Phyllis Entis, blogger extraordinaire at eFoodAlert.com, provides a “daily digest of international outbreaks, alerts, and food safety news.”

@marynmck – Maryn McKenna, author of SUPERBUG, offers insight on antibiotic resistance and other microbiological happenings. She also tweets from @MRSA_blog.

@iTweetMeat – Chris Raines, a professor at Penn State University’s Department of Dairy & Animal Science, tweets about, well, meat–meat marketing, meat quality, meat safety, meat regulation.

@LASeafoodBoard – With the safety of Gulf seafood in question in the wake of the massive BP oil spill, the Louisiana Seafood Marketing board is playing a critical role in the national discussion on domestic seafood safety.

@bmarler – Food Safety News publisher, leading food safety attorney, advocate, and blogger Bill Marler regularly breaks news of outbreaks and recalls before public health officials, shares links to Marler Blog posts, and discusses food policy.

@safetables – Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P), a foodborne illness victim advocacy group, shares recall alerts and organizes consumers to press for stronger food safety laws.

@foodsafetygov – Dubbed the government’s “one stop shop” for all things food safety, FoodSafety.gov is an interagency effort, tweeting consumer tips, advice, and recall information for FDA and USDA.

@KenOdza – Ken Odza, a partner at Stoel Rives, posts interesting articles related to food and product liability.

@eatdrinkandbe – Eat Drink and Be, a comprehensive food news site, posts links to articles and interacts with followers.

@consumerreports – Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, provides info on food and product safety and recalls.

@animalag – The Animal Agriculture Alliance, an industry group focused on communicating the benefits of modern animal ag, the group tweets about everything from food safety to sustainability. 

@barfblog – Doug Powell, associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University and publisher of Barf Blog, a blog on all things food safety, links to new blog posts.

@benjaminchapman – Also a contributor to Barf Blog, Ben Chapman, a food safety extension specialist with North Carolina State University, discusses food safety communication and live-tweets food safety events.

@mbbatz – Michael Batz, head of food safety programs at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute, offers a fresh perspective on food safety research.

@Meatingplace – Meatingplace.com, the online community for the meat industry, posts links to articles and expert blog posts daily.

@foodsafeguru – Massachusetts-based US Food Safety tweets recalls, outbreaks, and safe food handling.

@marionnestle – Marion Nestle, New York University professor, food policy guru, and author of several books, tweets food news and politics. She also blogs at www.foodpolitics.com.

@IFICmedia – Eric Mittenthal, media relations director for the International Food Information Council talks nutrition, food safety, and periodically hosts Twitter chats with experts.

@USDAFoodSafety – The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection service tweets meat and poultry news, recalls, and food handling tips.

@FoodSafety – Part of the USDA’s National Agriculture Library, the Food Safety Information Center shares food safety info with educators, the food industry, researchers, and the public.

@NaomiStarkman – Co-founder of Civileats.com and food policy media consultant for Consumers Union (among others), Naomi Starkman stays on the forefront of food safety in the media.

@ObamaFoodorama – Food policy wonkette Eddie Gehman Kohan’s blog Obamafoodorama.com dishes the scoop on food politics, recipes, and other foodie happenings at the White House and she often delves into food safety politics.

@micheletjay – Michele Jay-Russell, a veterinarian and food safety scientist at the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security UC Davis, tweets about emerging food safety and public health issues.   
     
There are also a few lawmakers who tweet about food safety from time to time – Senator Kirsten Gillibrand @SenGillibrand and Congressman John Dingell @John_Dingell.

Also, see our social media guide to food and ag government agencies. Happy Tweeting!

This list has been updated since it was originally published.