Bacteria Associated With Undercooked Ground Beef

Food Prophylactic Focus (167th Issue, June 2020) – Incident in Focus

Eating Undercooked Beefiness Burger or Steak Can Crusade Food Poisoning

Reported past Ms. Melva CHEN, Scientific Officer,
Take chances Communication Section, Centre for Nutrient Safety

Figure ane: Consumers are advised not to eat undercooked beef burger or steak to avoid food poisoning.

Over the past few years, there has been a trend for gourmet-way burger restaurants in Hong Kong. Some consumers may prefer the taste and mouthfeel of rare or medium burger patties to those of their well-done counterparts. Withal, they may not be aware that undercooked burger patties can impose risks of nutrient poisoning.

How Would You Similar Your Beef Burger Cooked?

Burger patties should always be cooked well-done regardless of the quality, source and toll of the meat. When meat is minced to produce burger patties, harmful leaner such every bit Salmonella or pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) from the raw meat's surface are mixed throughout the whole slice. Unless the burger patty is cooked right through, these bacteria tin can remain alive on the inside. Therefore, ground beef should be cooked until the internal temperature reaches at to the lowest degree 75°C or until browned throughout with the juice running clear.

Infection of Pathogenic E. coli from Undercooked Beef Burger Can be Fatal

The intestinal tracts of cattle is the main reservoir of pathogenic E. coli bacteria. One of the serotypes, E. coli O157:H7, may crusade acute renal failure, item in young children and the elderly. In 1993, E. coli O157:H7, linked to contaminated hamburgers from the Jack in the Box chain restaurants, infected hundreds of people in the USA. The majority of the victims were under ten years one-time. Four children died and some victims were left with permanent kidney damage.

Despite the hard-earned lesson from the to a higher place incident, outbreaks associated with undercooked ground beefiness even so occurred from time to fourth dimension worldwide. In 2019, ground beefiness contaminated with another strain of pathogenic Eastward. coli sickened over 200 people in the U.s.a.. In Hong Kong, at that place were also sporadic cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection linked to minced beef congee reported in the past.

Undercooked Steak Should Likewise be Avoided

Some people consider that steak can be just seared on the outside and not cooked in the eye, considering they think that bacterial contamination is ordinarily limited to the surface alone. Run a risk still exists nevertheless when consuming undercooked steak: all undercooked meat including steak may carry bacteria, and some leaner may even carry antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR results in reduced efficacy of antibiotics, which results in more complicated infections that are difficult to treat. Consumers, especially young children, the elderly, meaning women and people with a weakened immune system, are advised to eat thoroughly cooked steak (i.e. internal temperature reaching 75°C).

Many restaurants, especially the western-fashion ones, often let consumers cull the doneness of their steaks. There are yet prerequisites should the steak be non cooked in full. For example, the steak to be served undercooked must be an intact meat that is non injected, mechanically tenderised or reconstructed, also beingness stored and handled according to strict hygiene practices. That said, overseas food safety authorities do not recommend eating undercooked meat. The Great britain Food Standards Agency, the US Department of Agriculture, the New South Wales Nutrient Say-so of Australia and Health Canada consider internal temperature reaching 63°C with a three-minute rest time is the minimum cooking requirement for intact beefiness or steak.

Provide Consumer Advice for Undercooked Meat

Restaurants that serve undercooked steaks are encouraged to provide consumer advice on their menus to inform consumers of the potential risk. The following is an example of consumer advice that restaurants can provide, whereas it applies to raw/undercooked loftier-chance nutrient of all sorts:

"Consuming raw or undercooked foods may increase the hazard of foodborne illness, particularly for pregnant women, infants, young children, the elderly and people with weakened immunity."

Cardinal Points to Note

1. Raw and undercooked meat may carry harmful bacteria including AMR bacteria.
2. When meat is minced, harmful bacteria from the surface of the raw meat are mixed throughout the whole slice.
3. Thorough cooking of meat including burger patties and steaks can reduce the risks of food poisoning and acquiring bacteria with AMR.

Advice to Consumers

• No matter eating at home or dining out, burgers and other basis meat products should exist thoroughly cooked until browned throughout with the juice running clear.
• If a restaurant serves you an undercooked burger, send it dorsum to be thoroughly cooked until it is condom to eat.
• Consumers, especially susceptible populations, are brash non to consume undercooked steak.

Advice to the Trade

• Burger patties and other ground meat products should be thoroughly cooked to attain an internal temperature of at least 75°C before existence served.
• Provide advice for high-risk foods on the menus if the steak can be cooked according to consumers' preferences.

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Source: https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_167_01.html

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