The U.K. Food Standards Agency today reiterated advice on the safe cooking of burgers, following a report from its independent committee of experts on microbiological safety.
The Advisory Committee on Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF) report, commissioned by the FSA in September 2004, considered the differences between the recommended cooking conditions for burgers in the US and the more stringent requirements set by the Chief Medical Officer in 1998 in the UK.
Dr Judith Hilton, Head of Microbiological Safety at the FSA, said: ‘The current UK advice that burgers should be cooked at 70°C for 2 minutes or equivalent is upheld by this ACMSF report. Advice to consumers remains the same – to follow manufacturers’ instructions and make sure that burgers are piping hot throughout, cooked until the juices run clear and there’s no pink meat inside.’
Whoa. The only way to ensure that hamburger has reached such a temperature is to use a tip probe, instant-read digital meat thermometer. Research has shown that color is a lousy indicator of doneness — some burgers turn brown prematurely before 70 degrees C is reached, others can remain pinkish well beyond 70.
To further complicate matters, an individual hamburger will cook at different rates throughout the burger depending on thickness and fat content.
In one study it was found that when the outer temperature of hamburgers reached a temperature of 71.1ºC, the inside was only at a temperature of 56.7ºC. To check a burger, grab it with tongs, insert the thermometer sideways into the middle of the burger and wait a few seconds. As Pete Snyder of the Hospitality Institute in Minnesota has documented, when done correctly, one can observe the hot temperature at the surface and, as the probe is pushed into the hamburger, the temperature goes down. As the probe passes through the cold spot, the temperature goes up again. It is critically important that temperature not be taken with a stationary thermometer, but in a dynamic manner by pushing through the hamburger, so that a few Salmonella or E. coli in the middle of the hamburger are reduced.
As far as the "more stringent requirements in the U.K., the report states:
"Requirements for the cooking of ground beef issued by the US Food
and Drug administration (US FDA) specify that these products are cooked to
heatall parts of the food to a minimum temperature of 63°C for 3 min, 66°C
for 1 min, 68°C for 15 sec or 70°C for <1sec (instantaneous) (FDA, 1999). The US
Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service(USDA FSIS)
recommend that consumers use a thermometer to ensure that ground beef is
cooked to 71°C (USDA 2003).
I agree. Too bad the Brits don’t.