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Information Update
February 15, 2011
For immediate release, Health Canada
OTTAWA - Health Canada is reminding Canadians to make sure that their meat, poultry and seafood dishes reach safe internal cooking temperatures before serving. The only reliable way to ensure that your food has reached a safe internal cooking temperature is by using a digital food thermometer.
Despite many different types of food thermometers currently available on the Canadian market, digital food thermometers are considered the most accurate because they provide instant and exact temperature readings.
While we often look for other signs that our food is cooked properly (for example, the colour of the meat and its juices), these methods can't accurately confirm that harmful bacteria have been eliminated from our foods. Bacteria, such as Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria, which can cause foodborne illness can't survive at certain high temperatures.
Safe internal cooking temperatures are different for different types of foods, so it's important to know what internal temperature your food needs to reach to be safe to eat.
The following table indicates the safe internal cooking temperatures for common foods:
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Food
Beef, veal and lamb (pieces and whole cuts)
Medium rare
Medium
Well done
Pork (pieces and whole cuts)
Poultry (for example, chicken, turkey, duck)
Pieces
Whole
Ground meat and meat mixtures
(for example, burgers, sausages, meatballs, meatloaf, casseroles)
Beef, veal, lamb and pork
Poultry
Egg dishes
Others
(for example, hot dogs, stuffing, leftovers, seafood)
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Temperature
63°C (145°F)
71°C (160°F)
77°C (170°F)
71°C (160°F)
74°C (165°F)
85°C (185°F)
71°C (160°F)
74°C (165°F)
74°C (165°F)
74°C (165°F)
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