A food safety friend went to a U.S. burger joint, and asked to have his burger cooked to 160F.
The counter person asked whether he’d like some pink.
He replied, No, I’d like it cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F.
Which color is equal to 160°F?
He didn’t know.
So, he settled for well done.
In frustration, my friend send this letter to HQ.
No response.
For a couple of decades the color of cooked ground beef has been known
to not be a reliable indicator of safety. (1-4, 6-8)
Temperature is. (5)
Do your cooks use a thermometer?
Can your correlate the cooked color to an internal temperature for
each batch of ground beef?
As a septuagenarian, my immune system is not as robust as it once was.
And, my great grandaughter’s immune system isn’t as robust as it will be.
We like safe burgers, not over cooked ones.
Can you help?
REFERENCES
- Berry, B.W.1994. Fat Level, High Temperature Cooking and Degree of
Doneness Affect Sensory, Chemical, and Physical Properties of Beef
Patties. J. Food Science. 59 (1): 10-14, 19.
- Cornforth, D.; C.R. Calkins, C. Faustman. 1991. Methods for
Identification and Prevention of Pink Color in Cooked Meat. Reciprocal
Meat Conference Proceedings, AMSA 44:53-58.
- Hague, M.A.; K.E. Warren; M.C. Hunt; D.H. Kropf; C.L. Kastner; S.L.
Stroda; and D.E. Johnson. 1994. Endpoint Temperature, Internal Cooked
Color, and Expressible Juice Color Relationships in Ground Beef
Patties. J. Food Sci. 59 (3): 465-470.
- Hunt, M.C.; K.E. Warren; M.A. Hague; D. H. Kropf; C.L. Waldner;
S.L. Stroda; and C.L. Kastner. 1995. Cooked Ground Beef Color is
Unreliable Indicator of Maximum Internal Temperature. Department of
Animal Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506-0201.
Presentation to American Chemical Society April 6, 1995.
- Line,-J.E.; Fain,-A.R.-Jr.; Moran,-A.B.; Martin,-L.M.;
Lechowich,-R.V.; Carosella,-J.M.; Brown,-W.L.. 1991. Lethality of
heat to Escherichia coli 0157:H7: D-value and Z-value determinations
in ground beef. J-Food-Prot..54:762-766.
- Mendenhall, V.T. 1989. Effect of pH and Total Pigment Concentration
on the Internal Color of Cooked Ground Beef Patties. J. Food Sci. 54
(1): 1-2.
- Trout, G.R. 1989. Variation in Myoglobin Denaturation and Color of
Cooked Beef, Pork, and Turkey Meat as Influenced by pH, Sodium
Chloride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, and Cooking Temperature. J. Food
Sci. 54 (3): 536-544.
- USDA-ARS/FSIS. 1998. Premature Browning of Cooked Ground Beef. Food
Safety and Inspection Service Public Meeting on Premature Browning of
Ground Beef. May 27, 1998. USDA, Washington, D.C.