On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) began rolling out Twitter feeds to provide consumers with alerts about food recalls and other food safety information specific to their area.
Followers of these Twitter accounts will receive Tweets about recalls of meat, poultry and processed egg products in their state, as well as information on how to protect their food during severe weather events.
So far, the FSIS Twitter feeds are for residents of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Twitter feeds for the rest of the U.S. states and territories will officially launch during this first week of March.
USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, in a news release, said the Twitter feeds are another way for the agency to give consumers critical food safety updates and relevant information about foodborne illness. “The immediacy of information-sharing through social media is unparalleled, and we believe these timely, targeted updates will better protect public health,” she said.
Currently, food recalls are announced through news releases and FSIS’ primary Twitter feed, @USDAFoodSafety. The aim of the state feeds is to provide information directly to those affected by a recall.
The FSIS state food safety alert Twitter feeds are:
– AK_FSISAlert (Alaska)
– AZ_FSISAlert (Arizona)
– CA_FSISAlert (California)
– CO_FSISAlert (Colorado)
– HI_FSISAlert (Hawaii)
– ID_FSISAlert (Idaho)
– NM_FSISAlert (New Mexico)
– NV_FSISAlert (Nevada)
– OR_FSISAlert (Oregon)
– UT_FSISAlert (Utah)
– WA_FSISAlert (Washington)
The second group of state food safety alert Twitter feeds are:
– IL_FSISAlert (Illinois)
– IN_FSISAlert (Indiana)
– KY_FSISAlert (Kentucky)
– MI_FSISAlert (Michigan)
– NC_FSISAlert (North Carolina)
– OH_FSISAlert (Ohio)
– SC_FSISAlert (South Carolina)
– WI_FSISAlert (Wisconsin)
The third group of state food safety alert Twitter feeds are:
– CT_FSISAlert (Connecticut)
– ME_FSISAlert (Maine)
– MA_FSISAlert (Massachusetts)
– MN_FSISAlert (Minnesota)
– MT_FSISAlert (Montana)
– NH_FSISAlert (New Hampshire)
– NY_FSISAlert (New York)
– ND_FSISAlert (North Dakota)
– RI_FSISAlert (Rhode Island)
– SD_FSISAlert (South Dakota)
– VT_FSISAlert (Vermont)
– WY_FSISAlert (Wyoming)
The fourth group:
– AR_FSISAlert (Arkansas)
– KS_FSISAlert (Kansas)
– LA_FSISAlert (Louisiana)
– MO_FSISAlert (Missouri)
– NJ_FSISAlert (New Jersey)
– OK_FSISAlert (Oklahoma)
– PA_FSISAlert (Pennsylvania)
– TX_FSISAlert (Texas)
The fifth group:
– AL_FSISAlert (Alabama)
– DE_FSISAlert (Delaware)
– DC_FSISAlert (Washington, D.C.)
– FL_FSISAlert (Florida)
– GA_FSISAlert (Georgia)
– IA_FSISAlert (Iowa)
– MD_FSISAlert (Maryland)
– MS_FSISAlert (Mississippi)
– NE_FSISAlert (Nebraska)
– TN_FSISAlert (Tennessee)
– VA_FSISAlert (Virginia)
– WV_FSISAlert (West Virginia)
A list of all FSIS state food safety alert Twitter feeds is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fsis_Recalls/Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp#Twitter.
For more information on creating a Twitter account and accessing these state feeds, go to twitter.com.