Safe Handling and Cooking: ALL MODERN DAY Food and/or Meat Products Purchased in North America

Ground Beef: the Most Popular Meat

Ground beef patties are the most popular beef item for consumers anywhere in the Americas (Central, North, or South). Nearly 12 billion hamburgers were consumed by North Americans in 2007. Ground beef patties are the most frequently grilled meat. Ground beef is also popular in other forms such as meat loaf, meat balls, sloppy-joes, and tacos.

How to Handle and Cook Ground Beef

“As explained below (see Why There is Absolutely no Grounds for Ground Beef; Raw or Cooked to be Singled Out, by the Quoted, Food Safety Experts), the unique character of ground beef warrants careful handling.”

Avoid Contaminating Other Foods with any Raw Meat or Raw Meat Juice

[If necessary- but, often, not even advisable], “always, thaw any raw meat on a plate on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator, to avoid the possibility of contaminated liquids dripping onto other foods”.

 “Keep raw and ready-to-eat meats separate.  “Make it a household rule to use the refrigerator meat drawer” (if, of course, you should have one of the rare refrigerators that still has one) “for ready-to-eat foods, like cheese and deli meats”[will probably be too cold for such items thus causing them to deteriorate more quickly], “and do not store raw foods there. Or, you could use the meat drawer” (which would, of course, make more sense) “for raw meats, and store ready-to-eat foods in another location in the refrigerator” [as intended].)

“Wash hands thoroughly before and after handling raw ground beef” [any food product]. 

“Wash cutting boards, bowls, and utensils used to prepare raw ground beef with hot soapy water and rinse well” [any food product- do not use, ever, the same cutting board for fish and poultry that you use for other food products]. 

"As an extra precaution, a solution made from one teaspoon of unscented chlorine bleach in one quart of water can be used to sanitize the clean kitchen tools” [normal procedure in all the more reputable commercial kitchens].

“Use separate plates to carry raw ground beef patties to the cooking area and cooked patties to the serving area” [again, this is just normal procedure, in any commercial kitchen, or by ANY QUALIFIED cook].

“Use a Thermometer to Insure Ground Beef Reaches the Safely Cooked Internal Temperature of 160°F” Destruction of the pathogens” [that have been, deliberately, injected into any modern-day fish, meat, or poultry product and therefore will be present] “( particularly E. coli), requires a cooking procedure that heats the beef to an internal temperature of at least,160°F “

“Use of a food thermometer is the only way to determine that the internal temperature of ground beef patties has reached 160°F [Unfortunately, only 13% of consumers always, or often, use a thermometer when cooking (braising, broiling, griddling, grilling or roasting any meat product]. All meat products should be tested for the safely cooked temperature of 160°F minimum, in several locations because the entire product does not reach one temperature at the same time.  Additionally, the lowest temperature is not always in the centre.

Why Then, is Raw Ground Beef Singled Out by Food Safety Experts?

The answer: these “experts” need some scape goat.

Although other meats have caused, and do cause, foodborne illness, there are several attributes of ground beef which might, initially [mainly to the uninformed] suggest that more careful handling–and particularly the use of a thermometer to cook to 160°F– is required.

Ground Beef May Contain Pathogens Throughout

Mass produced, usually, at a central location, packed in plastic bags, and then transported long distances , to where it is “fluffed” and repacked; retail ground beef may contain pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms), most notably Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica. 

These pathogens are, now, frequently, associated with ALL food animals, and ALL meat products.

E. coli O157:H7 is (I should say was- in former times- particularly associated with ruminant animals. “Ground beef is made from ‘beef trimmings’ ” [the very same ‘beef trimmings’ that go into the manufacture of “pink slime”]“which often include trim from the exterior of carcasses and may morefrequently carry pathogens.”

“Although the presence of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef was declared an adulterant in 1994,” [“Pink Slime” has not been.] “0.46% of ground beef samples tested in 2008 by the Food Safety and Inspection Service were positive for this pathogen.  In the same period, 2% of ground beef samples were positive for Salmonella.”

 The processes of: mechanical tenderisation, and flavour enhancement, (including grinding), distributes any pathogens present throughout ALL the meat, and, or, meats on which any of these processes have been used.

In contrast, whole muscle cuts of meat that have not been tenderised or injected with an enhancement fluid, are considered ‘pathogen free’ in the interior portion of the meat-unfortunately, for the consumer, at least 70% of all meat products, presently, produced, and sold, in North America, have been colour, flavour, and texture, enhanced; through injection; as part of a mechanical tenderisation process.

Illnesses Have Been Associated With All Meat Products, Sold, Anywhere, in the Americas.

1.     Consumers have developed E. coli O157:H7 infections from consumption of beef.

2.     Perhaps, the most well-known case, In North America, is that in which over 500 consumers became ill, and four died, in 1993, as a result of consuming beef patties at a fast food chain.

3.     In another case in 2002, home preparation of E. coli O157:H7-contaminated beef sickened 28 consumers and caused a nationwide recall of 18.6 million lbs. of fresh and frozen beef and beef trimmings.

4.     In 2007, there were 19 recalls of beef totalling over 30 million pounds, of which less than 3 million pounds was recovered.

5.     Outbreaks from E. coli O157:H7 are most commonly linked, often erroneously, to beef.

6.     During the period 1990 to 2005, it is estimated that 56% of E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks were attributed to beef.

7.     Cases of consumer illness from meat consumption continue to be reported.

8.     E. coli O157:H7 causes about 62,000 human infections, from all food sources annually.

9.  Contracting an E. coli O157:H7 infection causes hospitalization in about 17% of cases, usually due to extreme diarrhoea, or, kidney failure and, results in death in an estimated 0.5% of cases.  Previous Advice to Consumers to Use

Cooked Meat Colour as an Indicator of Safe GroundBeef was, of Course, Wrong.

Prior to 1997, consumers were often encouraged to cook all meats until “well done” or to cook ground beef until “brown” in the middle, to assure a safe temperature had been reached. However, expensive, but, completely unnecessary, research (previously manipulated, colour and/or texture obviously, can be no indication of “doneness”) conducted in the 1990s determined that cooked ground beef colour does not correlate to safe endpoint temperature. Beef can turn brown before it reaches 160°F or it may retain a pink colour at temperatures above 160°F–cooked colour. Colourof, and colour change during cooking; of ANY meat product; depends and mustdepend, on a number of factors, including pH level, meat source, packaging,freezing history, and mainly, the ADDED ingredients. The only way to determine that, modern day, meat, or other, non-liquid, food products are safely cooked is to use a thermometer; to determine the safe temperature of 160°F has been reached.  (Normal liquid or steam cooking practice- boiling, braising- means they are generally cooked to well above 160°F.)

Since 1994, federal regulations, in North America require- I should say, supposedly, require, I have seldom ever found one, on any food product a Safe Handling Label, which includes information about storing, cooking, and avoiding cross contamination, on all consumer packages of ground beef (and other raw meat).

Conclusion: Most Food Products Produced or Sold in North America Should not be Taken Internally. Do so at Your Own Risk. ©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved.