DATE:     12/2/97
CONTACT:  Libby Hoyle, (864) 656-5713
WRITER:   Giles Singleton, (864) 656-3876

Clemson Extension Provides Food Safety Information

     CLEMSON -- During a food safety crisis, Clemson Extension is
there, collecting and dispersing accurate, science-based
information to the public.
     Several Extension specialists are on the S.C. Interagency
Food Safety Team. This team provides food safety crisis
information to the public, news media, and other state agencies.
When necessary, the team also informs family physicians.
      Other agencies involved are the Clemson University
Livestock-Poultry Health Program, the S.C. Department of
Agriculture, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the
S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
     "The team saw a great need to ensure that the information is
put out correctly through the conduit of the media," said Clay
Williams, assistant director of public information for the S.C.
Department of Agriculture and coordinator of the team's quarterly
newsletter.
     "This spring, when some children in Michigan ate tainted
Mexican strawberries, our first step was to ensure that none of
those strawberries were in South Carolina," said Williams. "Next,
we sent a news release from the SCDA reassuring consumers that
South Carolina strawberries were not a part of this recall." 
Clemson Extension's Agricultural News Office also distributed a
similar news release.
     "Members of the Interagency Food Safety Team's Rapid
Response System received this information so we could each alert
our own systems," said Libby Hoyle, Extension food specialist.
     The Rapid Response System relays information two ways -- out
to the public, and in from the counties, the media, and
individuals. 
     "For example, a notice about a new food safety public
education campaign comes to me, and I send it on to the
counties," Hoyle said. "If I get one call from a newspaper asking
if it's safe to cook a turkey overnight at 200 degrees, and
another about the same thing from an individual, I know it's time
to send out a reminder through the system that this particular
misinformation is circulating again," said Hoyle, who stressed
that this is a very UNSAFE way of cooking a turkey.
     She added that food safety in the home is crucial.
     "We can do everything possible from the farm to the grocery
store to ensure food is safe," she said, "but if it is not
handled properly in the home, all the other efforts do no good."
                              END