Research -Burgers may need higher cooking temperature to be safe from E. coli, University of Alberta researchers say

National Post 

University of Alberta researchers are concerned after finding E. coli bacteria survived recommended temperatures for cooking meat.

Lynn McMullen, a food biologist, and other researchers at the U of A’s Agri-Food Discovery Place, have been performing experiments on E. coli after one of students found the bacteria in cooked beef. McMullen said that should have been impossible.

“We had a huge collection of strains of E. coli that came from meat processing plants, and we decided to screen and see if any were heat resistant,” McMullen said.

“So our student came back and said ‘This one survives 70 minutes at 60 C,’ and I said, ‘Wrong, E. coli doesn’t do that. Something’s wrong.’ ”