By Ann Bagel Storck for Meatingplace. Used by permission.

Almost 40 retailers and the Defense Commissary Agency have promised to join Be Food Safe in the next year, the Food Marketing Institute announced.

Be Food Safe is a cooperative government, industry and consumer group initiative to communicate food safety information. The campaign, launched by USDA and the U.S. Partnership for Food Safety Education, encourages the use of colorful icons and photography to illustrate safe food handling practices. Retailers are using cooking demos, contests and seasonal promotions, among other tactics, to promote the effort.

Here are a few of the safety tips being promoted by the organization:

1. Only about 15% of people consistently use a food thermometer. Using a food thermometer is important — you can’t tell food is cooked safely by how it looks.
2. Over half of people say they defrost meat and poultry at room temperature at least “sometimes.” This practice can allow bacteria to grow on food.
3. Three quarters of survey respondents say they own two or more cutting boards, but just one-third always use different cutting boards for meat and for vegetables and other ready-to-eat foods. Always keep raw meat, poultry and seafood apart from foods that won’t be cooked.

To download the complete brochure from Be Food Safe, click here.