Meat producer Jennie-O is giving consumers a new way to understand their turkey purchases. The company is providing a tracking code so consumers can find out where their turkeys come from.
The Jennie-O website offers a page that allows consumers to put in the code from their turkey packages to find out what farm a specific turkey was raised in.
Both fresh and frozen turkeys get a code, according to The National Provisioner. In addition to the source of the meat, the code also accesses a story about the farmers.
“I think it’s kind of cool, I mean farm-to-table is huge and people want to check their food, especially with the salmonella outbreak, it’s probably a smart idea to do it,” said consumer Sarah Vergin.
Jennie-O turkeys were subject to a recent meat recall due to a salmonella outbreak. A subsequent controversy over government secrecy developed after more specific details about the outbreak were slow to reach the public, USA Today reported.
The salmonella outbreak sickened 164 people in 35 states, and is believed to be widespread across the turkey industry, The Washington Post reported. One person in California died. The outbreak began a year ago.