Fifth Plain Language Award Winner: Hazards of Poultry Stuffing!
Department of Agriculture
VICE PRESIDENT GORE LAUDS USDA EMPLOYEE FOR "PLAIN LANGUAGE" REWRITE
Clearer Language Means Safer Thanksgiving Meals for Americans
Washington, DC -- Vice President Gore gave an Agriculture Department (USDA) employee his monthly "Plain Language" award today for rewriting a consumer information article on how to safely prepare a turkey.
"With Americans nationwide preparing to consume 45 million turkeys this Thanksgiving, today's recognition of clear, simple food safety instruction is particularly important," the Vice President said.
Just in time for the holidays, Bessie Berry, Director of the Meat and Poultry Hotline, put into plain language a consumer information article on USDA's website on how to safely cook and stuff a turkey.
The information, also available to USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline callers, will help thousands of Americans this season avoid bacterial illness due to undercooking. The rewritten article makes clearer the steps and temperatures needed to prepare a stuffed turkey.
Today's "No Gobbledygook Award" builds on President Clinton's June 1st Executive Memorandum that directed all executive departments and agencies to: (1) write any new document that tells the public how to get a benefit or comply with a requirement in plain language by October 1, 1998; (2) write all new government regulations in plain language by January 1, 1999; and (3) revise all existing letters and notices into plain language by 2002.
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TURKEY BASICS: STUFFING
Make sure you cook both your turkey and your stuffing completely. If you don't, bacteria that can make you sick may still be alive. Here are the most important things to remember about stuffing:
Cook the stuffing separately -- it's MUCH safer! If you absolutely have to cook the stuffing in the turkey, use a thermometer to make sure the stuffing reaches a temperature of 165 F and the turkey reaches a temperature of 180 F in the innermost part of the thigh. Measure the temperature of both the turkey and stuffing! Don't just trust a pop-up indicator!