August 24, 2000
		USDA's Hot New Food Safety Character Leaves Critics Steaming. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed a complaint Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over its new campaign, a cartoon thermometer “Thermy” created to advise people on the correct temperature for killing bacteria. Thermy’s slogan is: “It’s safe to bite when the temperature is right.” “While a thermometer can indicate whether food is hot enough to kill bacteria, it can’t do a thing about measuring fat, cholesterol, carcinogins, or all the other deadly hazards in meat,” says PCRM president, Dr. Neal Barnard. “To suggest that meat is completely ‘safe’ if cooked at a high temerature is a deadly mistake. The USDA should not be ignoring the enormous body of research linking meat consumption to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension amd other serious health problems.” As stated in the complaint, proper heat may kill microorganisms, but, as fat and cholesterol contribute to the most deadly chronic diseases in the West, it ignores the fundamental problem about animal products: they’re just plain unhealthy. The bottom line is that meat is a risky food, whether or not it’s been cooked thoroughly,” says Dr. Barnard. “The USDA would do better to promote a healthy, vegetarian diet.”