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Consumers Encouraged to Use Digital Food Thermometers When Cooking
- Starting date:
- February 20, 2012
- Posting date:
- February 20, 2012
- Type of communication:
- Information Update
- Subcategory:
- Household Items, Miscellaneous
- Source of recall:
- Health Canada
- Identification number:
- RA-110005433
Health Canada is reminding Canadians to make sure that their meat, poultry, fish 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 ones 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 intel crnaooking 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.
| Food | Temperature |
|---|---|
Beef, veal and lamb (pieces and whole cuts)
|
|
| Pork (pieces and whole cuts) |
|
Poultry (chicken, turkey, duck)
|
|
Ground meat and meat mixtures (burgers, sausages, meatballs, meatloaf, casseroles)
|
|
| Egg dishes |
|
| Others (hot dogs, stuffing, leftovers, seafood) |
|
It is estimated that there are as many as 11 million cases of foodborne illnesses in Canada every year. Many of these cases could be prevented by following proper food handling and preparation steps.
Media enquiries
Health Canada
1-613-957-2983
Public enquiries
1-613-957-2991
1-866 225-0709