New Poll: Many U.S. Adults Unaware of Key Food Safety Practices
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Eight in 10 adults who cook hamburgers or poultry burgers do not use thermometer to determine doneness
Contact: Tom Super at tsuper@meatinstitute.org or 202/587-4238
Washington, D.C.
September 1, 2011 – Summer may be waning, but
with Labor Day cookouts, NCAA college football
tailgates and the NFL season right around the
corner, September’s 17th annual National Food
Safety Education Month is the perfect time to
remind food preparers about proper procedures
when cooking meat and poultry products.
A new
poll commissioned by the American Meat
Institute (AMI) and conducted by Harris
Interactive found that while almost nine out of
10 U.S. adults (88 percent) cook hamburgers or
poultry (chicken or turkey) burgers, only 19
percent of those who do use an instant read
thermometer to determine that the burgers are
safely cooked and ready to eat (i.e.,
“doneness”). Approximately 73
percent of adults who cook hamburgers or
poultry burgers incorrectly rely on sight to
determine doneness and 57 percent incorrectly
rely on cooking time.
Of
concern: only 13 percent of adults aged 18-34
who cook hamburgers or poultry burgers, many of
whom may prepare food for small children at
home, use an instant read thermometer to
determine doneness when cooking hamburgers or
poultry burgers. Seventy-eight percent of
this age group rely on sight, which is not an
accurate indicator of doneness, to determine if
the burger is cooked
properly.
In terms of proper cooking temperatures, only
one in five U.S. adults (20 percent)
knows a hamburger should be cooked to 160
degree F to ensure it is safe to consume, while
41 percent mistakenly believe that hamburgers
should be cooked to a temperature less than 160
degrees F, according to the poll.
Nearly
half of U.S. adults (47 percent) believe that
poultry burgers should be cooked to a
temperature less than 165 degrees F. Only
13 percent know that a poultry burger should be
cooked to 165 degree F to ensure it is safe to
consume.
“Meat and poultry companies use many food
safety strategies to make our products as safe
as we can, and it is our responsibility to
empower our customers with the information that
they need to ensure that the products are safe
when served,” said AMI Senior Vice President
of Public Affairs Janet Riley. “Our
poll reveals that a significant knowledge gap
still exists about proper cooking temperatures
and thermometer use. U.S. meat and
poultry products are among the safest in the
world, but like all raw agricultural products,
they can contain bacteria, and that is why it
is important to take time to remind consumers
about safe handling and cooking
practices.”
Riley
urged consumers to follow the four basic food
safety steps that are included on safe handling
labels on meat and poultry products:
clean, separate, cook and chill.
Consumers should make sure that surfaces and
hands are clean when preparing food, separate
raw products from cooked products, cook the
product to the proper temperature and keep the
product properly chilled.
“While
we recognize September as National Food Safety
Education Month, food safety is a priority
year-round,” Riley concluded. “By
making a habit of cooking hamburgers to 160
degrees F and chicken or turkey burgers to 165
degrees F and using an instant read
thermometer, consumers can feel confident that
they will enjoy a safe and delicious eating
experience every time.”
For more
information and additional resources to safely
prepare meat and poultry visit http://www.meatsafety.org/.
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Survey
Methodology
This survey was
conducted online within the United States by
Harris Interactive on behalf of American Meat
Institute from August 16 - 18, 2011 among 2112
adults ages 18 and older, of whom, 1,886 cook
hamburgers and/or poultry burgers. This online
survey is not based on a probability sample and
therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling
error can be calculated. For complete survey
methodology, including weighting variables,
please contact Tom Super at tsuper@meatinstitute.org.
About
AMI
Founded in 1906, the American
Meat Institute (AMI) is a national trade
association, headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
that provides leadership to advance the
interests of America’s meat and poultry
packing and processing companies, the 526,000
workers they employ and the consumers they
serve. AMI’s membership is extremely
diverse, ranging from large, publicly traded
companies to small, family-owned
businesses. Collectively, AMI member
companies, who produce 90 percent of the beef,
pork, veal and lamb food products and 70
percent of turkey in the U.S., provide the
safest, most abundant and affordable meat and
poultry products in the world.
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