Remember Ariel, the Cleveland Park-based online information robot spewing helpful and other random information about local stuff? Well Ariel has some competition in the world of info-bots. CoolGov points us to news about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Karen,” our food safety info-bot.

According to Karen, she “can answer inquiries from the public about the prevention of foodborne illness, as well as the safe handling, preparation, and storage of meat, poultry, and egg products, from an extensive database of food safety information.”

So we decided to put Karen to the test. While she may be resourceful, her command of local food safety issues needs a little work.