AskUSDA (2024)

FAQs

What is AskUSDA? ›

​​​ AskUSDA is a contact center that answers general inquiries from the public using trained agents and self-service options. To date, AskUSDA has partnered with 19 agencies to improve the customer experience offered to the public.

The guidance resource, askFSIS, is a Web-based computer application, designed to respond to technical and policy-related questions from FSIS inspectors, industry, consumers, other stakeholders, and the public.

FSIS protects public health by preventing illness from meat, poultry and egg products. We do this by ensuring these products are safe, wholesome and properly labeled. FSIS is part of a science-based national system to ensure food safety and food defense.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is the public health regulatory agency responsible for ensuring that United States' commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.

An inspection mark on the label lets you know the meat or poultry product has been inspected and that it is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled. See FSIS' Inspection Programs.

Our agencies help to keep America's farmers and ranchers in business and ensure that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and properly labeled.

The USDA is responsible for overseeing farming, ranching, and forestry industries, as well as regulating aspects of food quality and safety and nutrition labeling. The USDA is further tasked with administering several social welfare programs including free school lunches and food stamps.

Tom Vilsack serves as the Nation's 30th Secretary of Agriculture.

It monitors meat and poultry products after they leave federally inspected plants. FSIS tests samples of egg products and meat and poultry products for microbial and chemical contaminants to monitor trends for enforcement purposes.

What is the difference between the FDA and the FSIS? ›

FDA, through its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), regulates foods other than the meat, poultry, and egg products regulated by FSIS. FDA is also responsible for the safety of drugs, medical devices, biologics, animal feed and drugs, cosmetics, and radiation emitting devices.

FSIS promotes food defense by encouraging establishments to voluntarily adopt a functional food defense plan; implement food defense practices (including inside, outside, and personnel security measures); and conduct training and exercises to ensure preparedness.

Prerequisite programs are written procedures that describe particular activities of an establishment/plant that can be used to support decisions made in the hazard analysis. Prerequisite programs do not control food safety hazards.