In tests conducted by USDA scientists, the H5N1 bird flu virus did not survive in hamburgers cooked to internal temperatures of 145 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit, said the Agriculture Department on Thursday. “These results validate that [Food Safety and Inspection Service] recommended cooking temperatures are sufficient to kill H5N1 in meat,” it said.
The USDA conducted the cooking study as a follow-up to tests in April of 30 packages of ground beef purchased from supermarkets in states with dairy herds infected with the bird flu virus. The samples tested negative for H5N1.
In the cooking tests, scientists “inoculated a very high level” of a surrogate for the H5N1 virus into 300-gram (10.5-ounce) ground beef patties and cooked them to different temperatures — 120, 145, and 160 degrees. The USDA recommends cooking meats, poultry, eggs, fish, and shellfish to 145 or 160 degrees, depending on the type of cut.
“There was no virus present in the burgers cooked to 145 degrees (medium) or 160 degrees (well-done),” said the USDA. “Even cooking burgers to 120 degrees (rare), which is well below the recommended temperature, substantially inactivated the virus.”
The USDA’s safe cooking recommendations are available here.