
Cooked-to-Brown Burgers May Not Tell the TruthBy Sharon Durham February 2, 2001People who cook ground beef burgers
on gas grills could have a food safety problem if they rely on color--rather
than a meat thermometer--to determine if the meat is adequately cooked,
according to Agricultural Research
Service scientists. Thats because how the meat is handled before cooking can make it look
like its been cooked adequately when it really hasnt been,
according to the scientists in ARSs
Food Technology and Safety
Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. The research provided information to
USDAs Food Safety Inspection
Service to suggest guidelines for safe food temperatures. The ARS scientists, Bradford Berry and Marnie Bigner-George, cooked ground
beef patties on a gas grill and used a thermomenter to determine when the
burgers reached temperatures of 135, 151 and 160 degrees F. They also cooked
burgers until the meat color turned brown without using a thermometer. The
researchers purchased the ground beef from the supermarket. Some was shaped
into patties and cooked immediately; some was shaped into patties and frozen;
and some was frozen in its bulk form. The scientists found that a burger with a brown center is not necessarily
cooked and safe to eat. Premature browning was not evident in frozen patties
that were thawed and then cooked. However, beef that was frozen in bulk,
thawed, formed into patties, and immediately cooked showed brown color at
unsafe temperatures. As expected, the longer the burger was cooked, the less pink the center
portion. But burgers removed from the grill with pink centers continued to
brown for several minutes. Ground beef cooked to 135 degrees F and allowed to
sit for about four minutes looked the same as a burger cooked to 160 degrees F.
The research indicates the necessity and confirms the current advice of
using a meat thermometer when cooking meat. One hundred sixty degrees F, the
temperature at which Eschericia coli is killed, is considered the
threshold for safe consumption of ground beef. Scientific contact: Bradford W. Berry, ARS Food Technology and
Safety, Beltsville, Md., phone (301) 504-8994, fax (301) 504-8438,
[email protected]. Story contacts Food Technology and Safety Laboratory Sharon A Durham U.S. Department of Agriculture |