Health Watch is a public service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.

This week on Health Watch, we're talking about food-borne illness. Cooking out on a grill seems to make food taste better, but it can also leave you at risk for food-borne illness because meats may be charred on the outside, but not thoroughly cooked on the inside.

Lona Sandon, a registered dietitian at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, says the best way to protect yourself is to use a meat thermometer. Grilled meats should be cooked to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle. Use a thermometer to get the reading instead of judging by how the meat looks. It's especially important to cook ground meats thoroughly because of the risk for E coli infection. Be sure to use different dishes and utensils on cooked meat than you used with the raw meat so that the cooked meat doesn't become contaminated.

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July 2006

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