| Handling Meats Safely
Ground Meat and ground poultry are more perishable than most foods. In the danger zone between 40 deg and 140 deg F, bacteria can multiply rapidly. Since you can't see, smell or taste bacteria, keep the products cold to keep them safe.
Safe Handling
- Choose ground meat packages that are cold and tightly wrapped. The meat surface exposed to air will be red; interior of fresh meat will be dark.
- Put refrigerated and frozen foods in you grocery cart last and make the grocery store your last stop before home.
- Pack perishables in an ice chest if it will take you more than an hour to get home.
- Place ground meat and ground poultry in the refrigerator or freezer immediately.
- Defrost frozen ground meats in the refrigerator - never at room temperature. If microwave defrosting, cook immediately.
Safe Storage
- Set your refrigerator at 40 deg F or colder and your freezer at 0 deg F or colder.
- Keep uncooked ground meat and ground poultry in the refrigerator, cook or freeze within 1 to 2 days.
- Use or freeze cooked meat and poultry stored in the refrigerator within 3 to 4 days.
- For best quality, store frozen raw ground meats no longer than 3 to 4 months; cooked meats, 2 to 3 months.
CLEAN IT!
Keep everything clean--hands, utensils, counters, cutting boards and sinks. That way, your food will stay as safe as possible.
- Always wash hands thoroughly in hot soapy water before preparing foods and after handling raw meat.
- Don't let raw meat or poultry juices touch ready-to-eat foods either in the refrigerator or during preparation.
- Don't put cooked foods on the same plate that held raw or poultry.
- Wash utensils that have touched raw meat with hot, soapy water before using them for cooked meats.
- Wash counters, cutting boards and other surfaces raw meats have touched. And don't forget to keep the inside of your refrigerator clean.
COOK IT!
Cooking kills harmful bacteria. Be sure ground meat and ground poultry are cooked thoroughly.
- The center of patties and meat loaf should not be pink and the juices should run clear.
- Crumbled ground meats should be cooked until no pink color remains.
- Ground meat patties and loaves are safe when they reach 160 F in the center; ground poultry patties and loaves, 165 F.
Cook it evenly
- During broiling, grilling, or cooking on the stove, turn meats over at least once.
- When baking, set oven no lower than 325 F.
- If microwaving, cover meats. Midway through cooking, turn patties over and rotate the dish, rotate a meat loaf; and stir ground meats once or twice. Let microwaved meats stand to complete cooking process.
After cooking, refrigerate leftovers immediately. Separate into small portions for fast cooling. To reheat all leftovers, cover and heat to 165 F or until hot and steaming throughout.
Consumer Guidelines
Cold storage times for Ground Meat and Ground Poultry
| Refrigerator (40 F or below) |
| Uncooked ground meat and ground poultry (bulk or patties) | 1 to 2 days |
| Cooked ground meat and ground poultry (hamburgers, meat loaf and dishes containing ground meats) | 3 to 4 days |
| Freezer (0 F or below) |
| Uncooked ground meat and ground poultry (bulk or patties) | 3 to 4months |
| Cooked ground meat and ground poultry (hamburgers, meat loaf and dishes containing ground meats) | 2 to 3 months |
| Internal Temperatures for safe cooking |
| Uncooked ground meat | 160 F |
| Uncooked ground poultry | 165 F |
| All cooked leftovers, reheated | 165 F |
Bacteria are part of our environment. Where there is food there may be bacteria. Proper food handling and cooking is the best way to prevent foodborne illness. Generally most at risk for developing foodborne illness are children, the elderly and those who have chronic illnesses or compromised immune systems.
Developed by Food Marketing Institute, 800 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 and American Meat Institute, Post Office Box 3556, Washington, D.C. 20007, in cooperation with:
National Live Stock & Meat Board
44 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Extension Service
14th Street & Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250
Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
For more information about the safe handling and preparation of ground meat and ground poultry, call USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline toll-free at 1-800-535-4555 10 am to 4 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday or contact your local Cooperative Extension Service Office. |
