If you need last minute answers about preparing that Thanksgiving meal, you'll be able to reach a live expert (those are the best kind), even on Thanksgiving Day.

Participants: Gary Crawford and Meredith Carothers with the USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline

The USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline number is 888-MPHOTLINE (888-674-6854) You can also go online to Ask.usda.gov. The otline will be staffed Thanksgiving day from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST

Transcript

While most of us will spend this Thanksgiving relaxing, having some food and watching some football, the folks at the Agriculture Department's Meat and Poultry Hotline, the number of which we'll give you in a minute, will be hard at work.

Yes, answering questions from sometimes desperate holiday meal preparers.

Yep, we are getting ourselves ready to answer calls rapid-fire.

Oh, and they will be coming rapid-fire.

Thanksgiving kind of is a high-pressure holiday a lot of times.

So the Hotline team will be on duty to help people.

We are open on Thanksgiving Day.

This year we'll be open for phone calls and chats.

We're open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

So if you have questions Thanksgiving Day about safely preparing that meal, call this number 1-888-MP-HOTLINE.

1-888-MP-HOTLINE.

For live chat, go online to ask.usda.gov.

That's ask.usda.gov and have a safe Thanksgiving.

Gary Crawford for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.