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Cook Food to Proper Temperatures

Foods are properly cooked when they are heated long enough and at a high enough temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause food-borne illness.

• Use a clean meat thermometer, which measures the internal temperature of cooked foods, to make sure meat, poultry, casseroles, and other foods are cooked all the way through.
• Cook roasts and steaks to at least 145° F. Whole turkey or chicken should be cooked to 180° F. Fish should be cooked until the flesh is no longer clear and flakes easily with a fork.
• Cook ground beef to at least 160° F. Do not eat ground beef that is still pink.
• Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm. Don’t use recipes in which eggs are raw or only partially cooked. Don’t taste dough or batters that contain raw eggs. Use pasteurized eggs if raw eggs are essential.
• For even cooking in a microwave oven, make sure you stir or rotate the food two or three times. Make sure there no cold spots in the food. Heat thoroughly.
• When reheating soup, sauce, or gravy, bring it to a boil. Reheat other foods thoroughly to at least 165° F.

For more information about safe food handling and preparation, call USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline (1-800-535-4555) or FDA’s Food Information and Seafood Hotline (1-800-332-4010), or contact the University’s Extension office in your county.