5 replies to this topic

[pranav]

We generally tell that the food should not be exposed to longer duration in the danger zone (5 to 63 deg C) and should be well cooked to minimum 75 deg C before consumption. How can this be justified with all meats ( beef, egg, seafood, liver etc )eaten raw or medium done. 

 

 

 

 

[Charles.C]

We generally tell that the food should not be exposed to longer duration in the danger zone (5 to 63 deg C) and should be well cooked to minimum 75 deg C before consumption. How can this be justified with all meats ( beef, egg, seafood, liver etc )eaten raw or medium done. 

Dear pranav,

 

(a) By doing a/some risk assessment(s).

 

(b) And a risk assessment is most quickly done by finding a/some (validated)reference(s).

 

© And the references are found by doing some research/searching.

 

(d) And if no references can be found, do challenge tests for an appropriate, nominated, target microbial species using a validated technique.

 

Rgds / Charles.C

[pranav]

Dear Charles, 

 

This question was raised during a  training and I appreciate if you can help me with some references or literature to support the doubt. 

[George @ Safefood 360°]

Dear pranav,

 

By doing a/some risk assessment(s).

 

And a risk assessment is most quickly done by finding a/some (validated)reference(s).

 

And the references are found by doing some research/searching.

 

And if no references can be found, do challenge tests for an appropriate, nominated, target microbial species using a validated technique.

 

Rgds / Charles.C

Perfect Charles !!

[Setanta]

I would start with a thorough search of this site. There is such a wealth of information here!

Use the search bar at the top of the page. Then, go to whatever Government has jurisdiction over your facility or where you ship.

Setanta

[Charles.C]

We generally tell that the food should not be exposed to longer duration in the danger zone (5 to 63 deg C) and should be well cooked to minimum 75 deg C before consumption. How can this be justified with all meats ( beef, egg, seafood, liver etc )eaten raw or medium done. 

 

Dear pranav,

 

Here are some (UK) examples with respect to use of  “75degC” which are the nearest “official” viewpoints I could see to yr query.

I daresay that standards do exist for this cooking topic in yr local environment. Maybe you haven’t found them yet.?

 

Strictly, neither of the following extracts have specified validations attached  so do not  comply with my previous post as far as evaluation is concerned. However the temperature-time for example (2) looks likely to reflect tabulated data for L.monocytogenes / 6D reduction based on “average” input parameters for the product matrix. You may/may not agree with the associated requirements of course.

You will observe that there seems to have been a “refinement” in opinion regarding the use of  a criterion of  75degC core temperature in the UK.

 

(1)

0321.   It is essential that food is cooked thoroughly to destroy any bacteria on or within it.  Food is to be cooked to a core temperature of 75°C (3)  checked with a calibrated digital probe (disinfected with bactericidal wipes).  It is important that food such as rolled joints,  thick meat probing, and chicken are cooked to 75°C at its thickest part.  Thin meat foodstuffs such as bacon cannot be easily probed and will require a visual check to ensure that there are no uncooked areas and that juices run clear. (4)  There will be occasions when advance food preparation is required for some “made up” dishes i.e lasagne.  Personnel are to ensure that all the temperature criteria for cooking and chilling food is adhered to and recorded on the Advance Food Preparation Record at Appx 2

 

(ref3 above[1995] is available online)

(note the temperature caveats in ref 4 above)

 

 ct1 - Catering manual - JSP456, Vol3,Chap3,Practices.pdf   901.28KB   29 downloads

 

 

BUT (originally ca. 2006)(and apparently current) –

 

(2)

It is good practice to check the temperature of hot reheated or cooked food using a calibrated temperature probe to ensure that it has reached a temperature that will destroy pathogenic micro-organisms. The Food Standards Agency recommends that food is cooked to a temperature of 70°C for 2 minutes or an equivalent temperature and time e.g. 75°C for 30 seconds. It is recommended that you record cooking or reheated food temperatures.

 

(the above appears to reflect a change as compared to ref3 mentioned above [1995])

 ct2 - food safety regulations (Temperature Control required for food).pdf   29.45KB   28 downloads

 

 ct3 - FSA - hungry for science - Gastronomic perfection or hepatitis_.pdf   71.64KB   15 downloads

(see comments section)

 

As far as different presentations of steaks are concerned, you may also find this discussion edifying.

 ct4 - Internal cooking temparatures of steaks.pdf   57.12KB   18 downloads

 

Rgds / Charles.C

 

 

PS (added later) – It should be emphasised that both examples (1,2) above have probably assumed  that L.monocytogenes (L.mono.) was the most difficult-to-kill (eg highest D value) pathogenic microbial species likely to be present in the particular food matrix of interest and the achievement of a 6D reduction of this species therefore represented an appropriate challenge for achieving a safe product.

The same concept / requirement necessarily exists if using the above logic to extend the 75degC criterion to “all” foods although in practice the validity of the assumption for cooking processes seems to often simply be taken for granted (some exceptions do exist).

 

Additionally, the basic approach illustrated above is not globally agreed on, For example, the USFDA / USDA often prefer to set  (5 -7)D  reductions of a chosen Salmonella species as a criterion for safe food rather than L.mono. I hv seen various reasons offered to justify this alternative approach, eg statistically, the majority of health-related incidents associated with meat products in the USA have been attributed to Salmonella. AFAIK, for most (all?) reference temperatures / food matrices, most (all?) Salmonella species have a significantly lower D-value as compared to L.mono.

 

The conclusion from above is that some caution is required when quoting a core temperature of 75degC (or 75degC/30sec.) as a suitable criterion for safely cooking any food. More precisely, a risk-based validation is necessary for the specific situation.