CFA and the Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention submitted the following comments in response to a USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service proposal to conduct new research on the Safe Handling Instructions label for raw meat and poultry. Adopted in 1994, requirements for the Safe Handling Instructions label have not been updated since. New research on how consumers understand labeling information, on common food handling practices and associated risks, and on the survival rates of pathogens at specific end-point temperatures,  suggest that simple changes to the label could help to avoid significant numbers of foodborne illness cases. Over two years ago, CFA and other consumer advocates petitioned for some of these changes to be made in an update to the label. Now, government regulators have proposed a new study to research how label changes might affect consumer behavior. CFA and CFI wrote in support of the research, but urged the agency to avoid further unreasonable delay in updating the label.

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