Food Safety

Food Safety Name Institutional Affiliation Course # & Name Professor Date Q.1. When dealing with ground beef at home, refrigerate or freeze it immediately at 40°F and consume it within two days, be frozen for four months by covering it with heavy plastic wrap, aluminum foil, or freezer paper. To safely thaw ground beef, keep it in the fridge until fully defrosted to prevent the growth of bacteria. For quick defrosting, put it in the microwave for a few minutes and cook it immediately, as some parts will already have partially cooked. Also, it can be thawed by submerging the meat in cold water and periodically changing it until it thaws (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2016). Once you cook the thawed meat, it should be left out for only two hours before safely refrigerating it for three to four days or refreezing for four months. Q.2 Ground beef typically has bacteria such as Campylobacter jejune, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STECs), (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2016). Also, the Spoilage bacteria cause food to be rancid, have a terrible odor, and be sticky. While these bacteria can cause illnesses, they are less grave than the E. coli O157:H7 bacterium STEC. STECs emit vast amounts of a powerful toxin that envelops the intestines, causing massive damage to its lining and causing hemorrhagic colitis disease and hemolytic uremic syndrome in young kids. E. coli O157:H7 bacteria can persist at temperatures of 44°F/6.7°C in the freezer, multiplying slowly, and one only needs to consume a small quantity of uncooked ground beef to cause severe sickness and possible death (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2016). However, meticulously cooking it to 160°F/71.1°C suffering from the bacteria can be avoided. Q.3 Meat and poultry change their color for several reasons. One is because of the myoglobin protein. When myoglobin protein mixes with oxygen, it becomes oxymyoglobin, producing the red color on meat. Blood circulation also gives the red color seen during slaughtering. Another reason is the animal’s age and the exercise it experienced. Meat derived from old carcasses tends to be dark red due to high levels of myoglobin, which rises with age, while the more an animal exercises, t...