Friday Food Safety MYTHBUSTERS- #2

Food Safety Quiz- test your knowledge!

You’re having a barbecue. How can you tell if the hamburgers are done and safe to eat?

a. They’re done if they have been cooked on a hot grill for at least four minutes on each side.
b. They’re done if they are brown in the middle and no pink is showing.
c. They’re done if you’ve run out of hot dogs.
d. They’re done if a thermometer placed in the middle of the patties registers at least 160 °F.

Food Safety Myth: Once a hamburger turns brown in the middle, it is cooked.

Fact: You cannot use visual cues to determine whether food has been cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature. The ONLY way to know that food has been cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature is to use a food thermometer. Ground meat should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 160 °F, as measured by a food thermometer.

The correct answer to the quiz was D- did you get it right? For more information about home food handling for September Food Safety Month, check out the fightbac.org website from the Partnership for Food Safety Education. Watch for more food safety myths and facts next Friday!

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