The North American Meat Institute Foundation (NAMIF) has released a new video demonstrating safe preparation of frozen, raw, stuffed meat and poultry products as part of September’s Food Safety Education Month.

“While frozen, stuffed meat and poultry products have a strong safety record, we want to ensure that consumers have all the information they need to ensure these products are not just delicious, but safe when served,” said Betsy Booren, NAMIF president. “Through safe food handling practices and following the cooking instructions on the package, people can ensure the products are safe to eat.”

Part of the “Ask the Meat Scientist” series, the video outlines appropriate cooking times and temperatures as well as thermometer placement. NAMIF says proper thermometer placement is important since the stuffing in the middle of the product may be hotter than the meat surrounding it.

“The ideal thermometer placement for stuffed products is in the meat just above the stuffing since this is the last to cook,” Booren said. “USDA also recommends testing the temperature in a few different spots to ensure the entire product reaches the proper temperature.”

 Research from the International Food Information Council Foundation finds that thermometer use is the single food safety practice that could use the most improvement with less than a third of Americans using one to check the doneness of meat and poultry. The NAMIF “Ask the Meat Scientist” series includes several videos on how to properly use a meat thermometer in a variety of products that it will highlight throughout Food Safety Education Month. Other videos include tips on cooking burgers and steaks safely and evaluating the freshness of meat.