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Pilot Project: Hamburger Food Safety Tips (Audio files)
- Starting date:
- January 1, 2008
- Type of communication:
- Advisory
- Subcategory:
- Drugs
- Source of recall:
- Health Canada
- Identification number:
- RA-110002696
Advisory details
To download these MP3 files, use the mouse to right-click on the file name, and use the "save as target" option to save the file to your computer's hard-drive.
Overview
As a pilot project, Health Canada has developed a number of audio files (MP3 format) to accompany the release of an Information Update titled Health Canada Reminds Canadians of Hamburger Food Safety Tips. The audio files include health tips and commentary on this subject provided by Health Canada experts.
The audio recording of this full script is available.
Should media choose to re-edit the story, individual files for each recorded sound-bite are also available.
While the project is expected to be of primary interest to journalists and producers working in radio, all media and the public are invited to listen to the files and provide feedback.
Audio Script
Narrator/Host:
It's barbeque season again - time for the sizzling sound and tempting taste of hamburgers done on the grill. It's also time to focus on food safety. Health Canada expert, Jeff Farber, says it's important to cook hamburgers all the way through.
Jeff Farber (clip 1) (Director, Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada):
Eating undercooked ground beef can result in a type of food borne illness caused by E. coli bacteria. The symptoms would include severe stomach cramps, vomiting, fever and diarrhea. Some people call it "hamburger disease." Thorough cooking kills any E. coli bacteria in ground beef.
Narrator/Host:
A lot of people just check the colour of hamburgers to see if they're done. But according to Jeff Farber, that's not a reliable test.
Your hamburger can turn brown before all of the bacteria are killed. Use a digital food thermometer to make sure your burger is safe to eat. A beef hamburger is done when its internal temperature reaches 71 degrees Celsius. To check, remove your hamburger from the grill, and insert the thermometer through the side, all the way to the middle of the patty. And keep the patties thin. That makes it easier to cook them all the way through.
Narrator / Host:
Remember, your burger's done at 71.