Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled a new consumer Web site last week at www.foodsafety.gov. The site consolidates government information on food safety and food recalls to make it easier for consumers to find the latest information.

The site pulls data from all federal agencies that deal with critical food and food safety information, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as HHS and USDA. It also provides tips on how to handle food safely, alerts on food recalls and up-to-the-minute news from these agencies.

"Consumers will no longer have to search around in different places trying to figure out which agency manages which food product," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "All the information that they will need will be in one easy place."

Earlier this month, Purdue University also launched a new Web site aimed at helping small and medium-sized food processors to comply with environmental regulations. Called the Food Processing Environmental Assistance Center, www.fpeac.org contains federal and state regulations along with links to publications that will help smaller companies with limited resources to stay up to date.

The new site gives an overview of several food processing categories, including dairy, and provides a sustainability section with environmental and compliance guides for processors in each category. It is jointly funded by Purdue and the Environmental Protection Agency.