HOTLINE WORKER: "Good morning, Meat and Poultry Hotline, may I help you?"

The United States Department of Agriculture started its Meat and Poultry Hotline in nineteen eighty-five. The hotline receives about seventy thousand telephone calls a year from people with food safety questions.

CALLER: "I’m going to be going to a cookout this coming weekend and I am supposed to be bringing the raw hamburgers. So I am a little nervous about traveling with hamburgers. So I just wanted to get some advice on how I could do it safely."

The calls are answered by food safety specialists like Tina Hanes.

TINA HANES: "This time of year we are getting grilling-type questions or questions from people who are asking about picnics and traveling with food."

CALLER: "I was just wondering…can you re-use marinade that you have used on raw chicken on cooked meat?"

HOTLINE WORKER: "Well, you can reuse it as long as you do one important thing first. That is to cook it off. You have to boil it first."

The Meat and Poultry Hotline has expanded its programs to include Spanish language services. Also, people can ask questions through e-mail and live chats and get information on social media sites.

Kathy Bernard is project coordinator for the hotline.

KATHY BERNARD: "We teach consumers everyday, one to one, about how to handle food safely and to prevent food-borne illness. In addition, we also take calls that are related to complaints about food products that has led to foods being recalled, and we think that has probably saved lives."