Starting next month, poultry providers will have to meet a new set of packaging standards
for their products. For example, the labels will clearly have to state if the product needs to be cooked. Regulators
say that there is a good deal of confusion among consumers, especially over frozen, raw poultry that may already be
partially prepared with a stuffing or breading, so the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has devised this
label: Uncooked: For Safety, Must be Cooked to an Internal Temperature of 165 degrees F as Measured by Use of a
Thermometer. The new labels will be added to all frozen poultry products.
The FSIS is in the process of approving cooking instructions that will accompany all the chicken products, with guidelines that suggest consumers use traditional food preparation methods as opposed to the microwave. "A fundamental part of label evaluation is to ensure that labeling will be understood and followed by consumers," said the FSIS.
I wonder exactly how many consumers are "fooled" into thinking that their raw chicken is already cooked. Are the artificial grill marks and colorings, not to mention breading, so convincing as to actually make people think their raw chicken was cooked before being frozen? Are people so used to buying frozen, pre-cooked meals that the concept of a non-precooked item is foreign to them? I would certainly like to think not. It is possible the the labels will help consumers be more prepared should the bird flu suddenly pop up.
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