Safe Handling and Preparation of Hamburgers

Burgers are an easy and popular food to prepare, especially in the summer. As easy as it is to make a burger, it is just as easy to make a food safety mistake that can make you or your family sick. Raw meat can contain harmful bacteria that can lead to foodborne illness when not handled and prepared properly. Follow these practices to ensure that you, your friends, and family enjoy a safe meal. Use a bag to select and store raw hamburger meat at the grocery store. This prevents your grocery cart, hands, and other groceries from becoming contaminated. Be sure to store raw hamburger meat in the refrigerator below 40°F (4°C), thaw frozen meat in the refrigerator, wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw meat (use warm water with soap and scrub for at least 20 seconds), cook ground beef to 160°F (71°C), and don’t cross-contaminate by putting cooked burgers back on the same plate that was used to store raw burgers.