By Donna V. Scaglione
The kitchen is our haven. It’s where we can create wonderful things that feed our bodies and soothe our souls. We can linger at our counter over tea or a mellow glass of wine, and brew strong coffee in the morning to get our day going.
But if we’re not careful, the kitchen can be a dangerous place, too. Bacteria can lurk on counters, spoiled food may sit on refrigerator shelves, and if you’re not careful, your favorite dish could spark a catastrophe.
1. Bacteria in your meat
Some foods, like undercooked meat, can harbor bacteria spread by food handlers and through other sources. That’s why cooking meat to recommended temperatures is critical in preventing foodborne illnesses. Because salmonella bacteria are most prevalent in poultry, it should be cooked to a high internal temperature of 165 F, the U.S. Department of Agriculture advises.
The processing of ground beef mixes in the bacteria from its surface, so it also has to be cooked to a higher temperature, at 160 F. Other meats, including beef, veal, lamb — and now pork —should be done to a minimum internal temperature of 145 F. (The USDA recently announced that the previous recommendation of cooking pork to 160 F was “overkill.”) Allow the meat to sit for at least three minutes as the higher external temperature kills off any surface bacteria.
