Restaurant USDA Food Thermometer Safety Factsheet Poster

Food Thermometers Are Key to Food Safety 
This IS a safely cooked hamburger, 
cooked to an internal temperature of 
160 °F, even though it’s pink inside. This is NOT a safely cooked ham?
burger. Even though it’s brown inside, 
it is undercooked. Research has shown 
that some ground beef patties look 
done at internal temperatures as low 
as 135 °F. 	
For more information, check out 
the FSIS Technical Information 
publication titled “Color of 
Cooked Ground Beef as It Relates 
to Doneness” (8/98). It’s available 
through the Web: 
www.IsItDoneYet.gov 	
Which Ground Beef Patty Is Cooked to a Safe Minimum Internal Temperature? 

Background 
Consumer behavior research shows 
that cooking by color is just one of 
the ways consumers typically judge 
whether or not food is “done.” 
Consumers said they also “eyeball” 
the food, go by recommended 
cooking times, and trust their 
experience and judgement. The 
only problem is, those methods 
may be misleading them. 
In 1995, a study by Kansas State 
University indicated that ground 
beef may turn brown before it’s 
cooked to a safe minimum internal 
temperature of 160 °F, sufficient 
to destroy potentially dangerous 
pathogens. 
With that information in hand, the 
Food Safety and Inspection Service 
(FSIS) commissioned the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) 
to examine the color of ground 
beef nationwide as it relates to 
doneness. 	
The Findings? 
• 1 out of every 4 hamburgers turns 
brown before it’s been cooked to 
a safe internal temperature. 
• And yet, only 6 percent of main  meal cooks checked hamburgers 
with a food thermometer, 
according to a 2002 consumer 
food safety survey conducted 
by the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration and FSIS. 
What Does This Research 
Mean to Today’s Consumers? 
The only way to know food has 
been cooked to a safe internal 
temperature is to use a food 
thermometer. 
The goal of the "Is It Done Yet?" 
campaign is to increase consumer 
use of food thermometers. And 
today’s thermometer technologies 
make checking the temperature of 
“thin” food—like hamburgers or 
chicken fillets—a “piece of cake.” 
It only takes a few seconds. 	
For instance, digital instant-read 
thermometers need to be inserted 
only a very short way into food. As 
a result, consumers can easily check 
the temperature of thin foods by 
inserting the thermometer probe 
into food from the top. 
It’s not complicated—and it’s worth 
the effort. This is especially true 
for people who are high-risk for 
foodborne illness—young children, 
older adults, pregnant women, and 
people with weakened immune 
systems. 
For more information on different 
types of thermometers and their 
uses, look on the Web at 	
www.IsItDoneYet.gov 	
or call the 
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 	
1-888-MPHotline 
1-888-674-6854 
TTY: 1-800-256-7072 	
Food Safety and Inspection Service  Slightly Revised April 2006
United States Department of Agriculture 
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.