Work Plan: USDA FSIS Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria Real-Time Risk Communication
Campaign Overview The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is USDA’s public health agency tasked with ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry and processed egg products is safe, wholesome and correctly labeled.
To help meet its public health goal of preventing foodborne illnesses, FSIS educates consumers on correct food safety behaviors through its primary campaign, Food Safe Families.
The campaign promotes four key behaviors – clean, separate, cook and chill – to ensure consumers prepare safe food in home kitchens. “Clean” reminds consumers to wash their hands and kitchen surfaces often during cooking. “Separate” prevents cross-contamination by encouraging consumers to keep their raw meats away from other foods. “Cook” informs consumers of the necessity of cooking their meat, poultry, fish and egg products to the right internal temperature. “Chill” highlights the importance of prompt refrigeration of food. Focusing on those behaviors provides consumers with actionable steps they can take to protect themselves and their family from food poisoning.
FSIS publishes a variety of brochures, pamphlets and other educational material. In addition to general food safety information, FSIS provides information specific to at-risk groups (such as older adults and cancer patients) and information specific to events or occasions that may require special food safety considerations.
FSIS works with public health partners at the local, state and national levels to distribute these publications and otherwise promote safe food handling.
FSIS also provides food safety information and assistance to consumers through a telephone hotline (the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline) and live chat service.
During severe storms and hurricanes, safe food handling is especially important. In addition to the four basic steps, families need information on how to handle food before, during and after severe weather events. FSIS utilizes all of its resources to distribute messaging related to these events.
Planning FSIS constantly monitors developing potential severe weather events, such as floods, hurricanes and snowstorms, with the goal of being able to distribute critical food safety information at the moments when consumers need it most. FSIS strives to provide this information in a timely manner through traditional print and broadcast media placements, social media messaging, outreach to partner organizations and live, real-time support to consumers via the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline.
FSIS recently established a Standard Operating Procedure for creating and distributing severe weather information, along with a press release template to speed distribution of the information when needed. In advance of severe weather events, FSIS prepares media materials for distribution.
Execution/Timeline of Events Prior to Landfall Prior to the hurricanes making landfall, FSIS staff monitored news reports and data from the National Weather Service to predict time and location of hurricane landfall. As the hurricane neared landfall, FSIS staff prepared press releases, distributing the releases to media outlets in the affected areas. The releases were subsequently updated with new information about the path or nature of the hurricane, as that information became available: Aug. 24 – USDA Offers Food Safety Tips for Areas Affected by Hurricane Harvey Sept. 8 – USDA Offers Food Safety Tips for Areas Affected by Hurricane Irma Sept. 19 – USDA Offers Food Safety Tips for Areas Affected by Hurricane Maria
FSIS staff posted food safety messaging in English and Spanish to Twitter and Facebook accounts and promoted messaging from USDA and the Agriculture Secretary’s Twitter accounts.
FSIS staff actively pitched local media outlets in the affected areas before, during and after the hurricanes made landfall. Media outlets reached prior to the hurricanes included: Radio interview with Megan Bishop of WOAI Radio in San Antonio, TX - 8/25/17 Radio interview with 102.3 NewsTalk KXYL, Brentwood, TX – 8/25/17 Radio interview with Mathew Alvarez of Talk Radio 1370AM in Austin, TX - 8/25/17 Radio interview with USA Radio (syndicated radio with 1,100 stations) - 8/25/17
After Landfall After the hurricanes made landfall, FSIS continued social media outreach, posting infographics, articles and links to the FSIS twitter and Facebook pages.
Staff members continued to pitch local media to get food safety messaging to those affected. Media placements included: UnsafeFoods blog, Houston, TX: Food Safety in the Midst of Hurricane Harvey – 8/26/17 Radio interview with Justin Mott of CBC Radio KDET AM 930 in Center, TX - 8/28/17 Radio interview with Mark Cope of Newstalk Radio 102.3 KXYL in Brownwood TX - 8/28/17 Food Safety Magazine – 8/29/17 Radio interview with Lon Gonzalez of KEDT in Corpus Christi, TX - 8/30/17 Radio interview with Bill O’Neil of 107.1 & 550 KTSA in Austin, TX - 8/30/17 Radio interview with Chris Hogan of 740 AM KTRH in Houston, TX - 8/30/17 KRIS 6 News, Corpus Christi, TX: UDSA releases food safety recommendations for Harvey victims – 8/30/17 d-mars.com, in Houston, TX: Steps to follow during and after the weather emergency – 8/31/17 Radio interview with Power 102.1 KPRR FM, El Paso, TX – 9/6/17 Escuchemos.fm Radio in Spanish with outlets in PA, Puerto Rico and Florida – 9/6/17 Mundo Excursiones: Protege Tus Alimentos Para Una Posible Pérdida de Energía Eléctrica En Caso Huracán – 9/6/17 Daily Commercial, Leesburg, Florida: Food safety tips for Hurricane Irma – 9/7/17 News 104.5 WOKV, Jacksonville, FL: HURRICANE IRMA: Food safety tips for areas impacted – 9/7/17 The Ledger, Lakeland, FL: What to do when power fails: Food safety tips from the USDA – 9/7/17 The Clewiston News, Clewiston, FL: USDA offers Food Safety Tips for areas affected by Hurricane Irma – 9/7/17 News Chief, Winter Haven, FL: What to do when power fails: Food safety tips from the USDA – 9/7/17 Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, FL: Hurricane Irma: Food prep to keep in mind – 9/7/17 GobiernoUSA.gov retweeted the @USDAFoodSafety_ES account promoting safe food handling after a power outage. – 9/7/17 Orlando Weekly, Orlando, FL: Here's how to know if your food is safe to eat after Hurricane Irma – 9/8/17 Food Safety News, Seattle, WA: USDA Posts food safety tips for those in path of Hurricane Irma – 9/8/17 Radio interview with Univision’s Los Seis de la Tarde in Puerto Rico – 9/8/17 Radio interview with 11 Alive News in Atlanta, Georgia – 9/8/17 National Preparedness Month (NPM): Preparing for a Possible Weather Emergency blog to USDA.gov – 9/8/17 NEWS 104.5 WOKV, Jacksonville, FL – 9/8/17 1330 AM WEBY Northwest Florida’s Talk Radio, Milton, FL – 9/8/17 NotiCel- digital news, San Juan, PR: Once reglas básicas para manejar la comida tras una emergencia – 9/10/17 The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, GA: Fridges after Irma stock danger: USDA food safety tips – 9/11/17 The Miami Herald, Miami, FL: What to throw away, what to keep after your refrigerator and freezer lose power – 9/11/17 Huffington Post (front page): How To Practice Food Safety Before And After A Hurricane – 9/11/17 Jacksonville Times Leader, Jacksonville, FL – 9/12/17 Victoria Advocate, Victoria, TX: Food Safety After a Disaster – 9/16/17
Results for all messages from August 24 – October 6 are listed in the chart below: Social Media Profile Impressions Engagements
Twitter: @USDAFoodSafety 2,041,519 33,830
Twitter: @USDAFoodSafety_Es 185,500 1,757
Facebook: @FoodSafety.gov 575,655 13,184
These placements resulted in millions of verifiable impressions on American consumers. From August 25 to October 6, the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline responded to the following inquires related to power outages and flooding because of these storms: 67 Hotline calls 18 chats 25 emails 1,305 answers viewed in our automated frequently asked questions database
Recovery After the hurricanes, FSIS continued to provide information to consumers who may still be recovering from the effects of the storm.
On September 21, OPACE staff was interviewed by USDA’s in-house radio service, USDA Radio, about questions they have received on the Meat and Poultry Hotline about hurricanes and food safety.
On September 22, FSIS coproduced a video with FEMA about food safety after severe weather that was promoted in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.
On September 25, FSIS shared food safety messages for those in Puerto Rico on the FoodSafety.gov Facebook channel in both English & Spanish.
Materials Used FSIS used the following communications materials (attached): 1) Press release: “USDA Offers Food Safety Tips for Areas Affected by Hurricane Harvey” 2) Press release: “USDA Offers Food Safety Tips for Areas Affected by Hurricane Irma” 3) Press release: “USDA Offers Food Safety Tips for Areas Affected by Hurricane Maria” 4) Infographic: “Food Safety Before, During and After a Power Outage” 5) Brochure: “A Consumer’s Guide to Food Safety: Severe Storms and Hurricanes” 6) Hurricane Harvey Tweets 7) Hurricane Irma Tweets 8) Hurricane Maria Tweets
Budget There was no dedicated budget for this campaign. Most of the work was completed by regular staff during normal work hours.