Folks worried about bird flu, salmonella and other foodborne illnesses have a simple solution at hand—simply use a cooking thermometer to make sure food is well-cooked. But only about one in four Americans (27%) use one either "often" or "all the time" to check whether meat, poultry or fish has reached a temperature that makes it safe to eat, a new health survey has found. Slightly more U.
S. adults (29%) said they "never" use a thermometer while cooking, results show. About 20% said they do so "rarely" and another 20% "sometimes.
" "Using a food thermometer to determine that meat, poultry, fish, and eggs have been cooked to a safe internal temperature, one that kills bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella, is a way of protecting yourself from ," Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, said in a news release. "Every cook should have a food thermometer within ready reach in the kitchen or near the grill," Jamieson added.
A food thermometer can make sure food is hot enough to kill bacteria and viruses, experts said. But the survey also found that many people didn't know the temperature to which poultry and eggs should be cooked to kill off the virus and other germs. Fewer than four in 10 respondents (38%) knew the correct temperature of 165 degrees.
More than half (51%) said they weren't sure, and 4% said no temperature could kill off germs in poultry and eggs. Few people also correctly identified 160 degrees as.