Comments on: On The Color of Hamburger

By: dave.s.

dave.s. — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 10:43:11 +0000

One of my wife’s great lines, in discussing her single days and bisexual men, was ‘do you know where that thing has BEEN?’ – and it applies just as well to burgers from the store, you have fragments of fifty cows there, some of which may have been sick, and including some parts which have been, well, close to other parts. Abbatoirs are awful places. But our kids love burgers. Our strategy has been to buy a meat grinder, bring home a chuck roast, grind it up ourselves, and serve burgers from that. So far, things seem good. I’ll let you know in fifty years if we get mad cow.

By: ChicagoMike

ChicagoMike — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:20:35 +0000

Of course, the easiest way to avoid bacteria from hamburgers is: DON’T EAT ANY! You’d also be doing the planet a favor since beef production is very resource intensive, and you know, the BK Veggie isn’t too bad.

By: Brian Too

Brian Too — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:44:07 +0000

@9. D,

Thanks, I didn’t follow the link and so missed that part.

Still, Chris is right. Who’s going to take a thermometer to a restaurant where you intend to eat? A restaurant inspector, maybe, but an ordinary customer? You gotta be borderline obsessive to be bringing meat thermometers with you.

And really, isn’t the issue bacteriological safety, not temperature? If your salad is contaminated no thermometer is going to tell you that. And at a higher level, isn’t the issue really good product, consumer trust, and relationship with customers? You should be able to go to a restaurant and eat and not have all these worries. Of course if you see a filthy bathroom, dirty utensils, and signs of neglect everywhere, I’d leave in a heartbeat. Trust, but verify is still good advice.

By: John Spevacek

John Spevacek — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:21:31 +0000

If you really want to get to the heart of the issue, ask your lecturers this: how much e.coli/salmonella/… is in the food, AND how much do you need to get you sick?

Just as in chemical toxicology, the dose makes the poison.

By: ChrisD

ChrisD — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:10:58 +0000

@D #9:

I’m going to call BS on the bit about how a well-done burger can be juicy. In my experience, the only way a well-done burger can be juicy is if you pour grape juice over it.

By: D

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:06:53 +0000

#8 Brian Too, the FSIS link, at the bottom of the article, says

“The color of cooked ground beef can be quite variable. At 160 °F, a safely cooked patty may look brown, pink, or some variation of brown or pink.

When a patty is cooked to 160 °F throughout, it can be safe and juicy, regardless of color.”

The link also has a section called “Persistent Pink Color in Cooked Meat Patties” which is interesting.

By: Brian Too

Brian Too — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:25:00 +0000

What about the reverse? Has anyone else noticed that some meat, apparently fully cooked, still has a lot of color in it? It seems to happen more when meat is slow cooked… I think.

The article’s point was that meat that is cooked brown isn’t necessarily safe. I’m wondering if meat that’s pink inside can in fact be completely safe.

By: Gus Snarp

Gus Snarp — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:29:45 +0000

Heck, seems like I’ve got as much chance of getting sick from a spinach salad, a peanut butter sandwich, or some chips and salsa these days, so I’ll go on enjoying medium rare.

By: FUAG

FUAG — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:40:20 +0000

Wait… Meat can make us sick!?!?!?! Those MIT guys think of everything!

By: Guy

Guy — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:59:39 +0000

Most fast-food goes through so much processing it’s debatable that end product can really be thought as a real hamburger.