Good thinking.

Luckily, in culinary school I was taught not to overcook pork and leave it pink in the middle. It was explained to me that Trichinosis is not as much of a concern today as it was many years ago since there are tighter food safety standards and overall better treatment of farmed animals.

I still get a kick out of people that freak out whenever they are served slightly undercooked pork chops.

I gave up grilling pork chops at backyard BBQs for friends and family due to all the squeamish heathens screaming bloody murder at 145 degree pork.

I'd like to think this news would solve the problem, but as mentioned, this is one habit that will most certainly die hard. I doubt mentioning the new USDA guidelines will convince anyone.

I've always cooked pork loin to 140-145 and it's always been pink...who want grey pork madalions?

Thermometer is crucial....if it reads 140-145 just let it rest for 3-5min and it'll be perfect

Not much of a pork fan anyway, and after reading how factory farms abuse these animals, I'm even less of a fan.

Of course, what we do to chickens is just as bad and I eat them so perhaps I'm being hypocritical.

OhMy999999: not "as much" of a concern? Death isn't as much of a concern? "better treatment of farmed animals" Confinement raising is NOT better treatment. To be clear: I'm with you that pork shouldn't be overcooked, but your reasoning for it is way off course.

Just watch Food Inc. and you'll see just how well most pigs are treated on the farm, if you can call it a farm.

You be surprised. It was like a month ago, a patient came to emergency room because of being assaulted. Found out that he had Trichinosis in his brain due to poorly cooked pork. It might be rare but better to be safe than sorry.

Spinach should never be cooked!

Spinach should never be eaten by humans. Blech. hehe

Clam,

Don't knock spinach. I yam what I yam today because of it. BTW it tastes a lot better than turnip greens or okra.

Fun fact- Leafy greens are the #1 cause of foodbourne illness outbreaks in the USA today. If you're going to eat stuff that comes out of the bacteria-filled dirt, at least have the common sense to wash it.

Wait did I just advocate common sense on a Newsvine column? I must need sleep worse than I thought I did.

I agree winkwink fresh spinach is much more pleasing to the palate than canned or cooked down spinach.

My thought exactly... No need to have the animal die in vain. The other white meat should be pink....

Fred my brother from another other mother, you made my day:-)

I hear ya, dude. My mom was absolutely obsessed about pork not being "undercooked". I remember quite a few Sunday dinners being delayed for hours because the pork roast had a few microscopic pink spots in it. She'd swear if we ate it that way we'd all die from Trichinosis within days. It's so ingrained in my psyche not to eat pink pork that I doubt I could do it no matter how safe they say it is.

Yes, crispy on the outside and...well...crispy on the inside too!

I prefer most of my meats to be cooked as little aspossible. A steak -- a good vet could save its life. But pork -- pink center yes!

I'm with you on this one WeldDem. Recently got a pork loin dish from Carrabba's as a take out and yes, it was pink in the middle, tasted it and the meal wound up in the trash. I was not happy. My bacon has to be well done, also. Those rubbery half cooked fatty areas that some people like to serve just do not cut it.

On the other hand, beef served "cannonball" is just right for me and a good steak tartare will put a smile on my face.

It should be more of a greyish pink, not pink like a steak. If it doesn't have that greyish pink its overdone.

I'm probably going to hell for it, but this made me spit out my coffee I started to giggle so hard.....

I am ready for the Tea Party and Republicans on who Obama is going to ruin the health of Americans.

That used to be true when they fed pigs table scraps but that hasn't been common practice for more than 30 years. But really for swine raised in the US Taenia Sclium cysts and brain worms aren't an issue any more.

As already discussed in the article, 145 is ABOVE the the safe temperature to kill those pathogens. Comments like that are why animal producers have the problems they do today; people handing out incorrect (or only partly correct) information to other uninformed consumers.

--- Iowa State Animal Science/Animal Products Student

Are you an alarmist vegan? They proved experimentally that 145 degrees (pink) is a safely cooked temperature. I'm sure they accounted for the parasite in question....

Or... Do you think you know more than the USDA microbiologists? They have no economic motive for this and it took them forever to change the rule. This indicates it is a very safe change.

Hmm... yes... from now on I will examine a sample of all pork products I purchase with my William Sonoma brand Kitchen Microscope.

Or, since I'm not a hypochondriac, I'll just follow the given guidelines, cook my pork to 145 degrees, and enjoy a delicious meal.

DB probably just finished watching the pilot episode of House. As I recall the patient contracted the same parasite from eating under cooked ham....

Oops, commented twice.. sorry! :)

AHAHHAAAAHAHA That is hilarious! People need to spend more time in school or reading a book than watching TV and basing their reality on a show like House, big time LOL.

"They can cause severe brain damage, siezures, and death."

..... Yeah, I just hate it when that happens.

No kidding!

They have no issue with the hormones and antibiotics they pump into US meats and the pesticides they use on vegetables.....but unpasteurized cheese....that's what scares them?

My mother-in-law has a supplier in Brooklyn that deals in black market cheese, funny as it sounds. He'll sell you unpasteurized cheese from Europe for about a 100% markup.

Thank you Ivan - agree wholeheartedly. Also, I just HATE the stupid warnings that they force restaurants to put in menus, saying that "eating undercooked food can result in foodborne illness". Insufferable bureaucrats are ruining what should be good food.

Ivan, raw (unpasteurized) milk products, including cheese, are available in the United States. Here in Pennsylvania, it seems to go on a county by county basis, as different county health departments have differing regulations. Some of our local stores stock raw milk; the restaurant that I work at serves locally produced raw milk cheeses. The potential danger in consuming raw milk products lies mainly in a disease called listeriosis, which is especially risky for pregnant women to consume as it poses danger to the fetus. Most healthy adults shouldn't have any problems consuming raw milk products.

Lunatic, the warning that we put on our menu doesn't preclude us from serving, for example, our steak tartare served with a lightly poached quail egg. It simply offers legal protection for the restaurant should someone, especially someone elderly or immuno-comprimised, become ill after ordering and eating an undercooked item on our menu.

You want pigs to become cannibals??

For equal time, you could include kosher Jews as well.

No, the muslims don't like to eat jews. They taste funny.

One of the former main causes for concern from undercooked pork was the Trichinosis roundworm. The last documented case of a trichinosis outbreak caused by commerically raised pork was in the the 1970s, free range or no. Long story short - if you buy your pork from the grocery store or from any source that is inspected and held to regulations, it is safe to cook to the 145. If, on the other hand, you get your pork from Farmer Jim down the street who calls you up and tells you he just slaughtered a fresh one, and has a habit of having his 10-15 pigs get loose and go rutting through the woods for dinner, I'd still cook it to the old 165.

Free range pork comes from feral (wild) hogs, not a grocery store, nor from Farmer Fred. You hunt it, harvest it, process it, and then cook and eat it. Think I'd still err on the side of caution and cook it to 160-165 so as to avoid any health problems.

Steve - "Free Range" means outdoors, pastured. Does not mean feral. One of the reasons they are saying it's OK to cook less is that the pigs are raised indoors, no access by birds, etc. So humanely pastured pigs are accessed by birds. Dennis: your comment about "commerically raised" . . . what's your definition? Chipotle restaurants use pastured pork, raised outdoors. Is that not commercial? The question: when is it not OK to cook pork pink?

Commercially raised: Raised by companies/farmers for the purpose of selling to the mass market consumer, regulated by the USDA, required to follow guidelines on allowable feeding, antibiotic use (if there is any), etc, and required to pass inspections on the pigs (pre-death) and the resulting pork (post-death) for disease/infection, required to prove correct temperature holdings from the time of slaughter to the point of receipt by the wholesaler. Chipotle's source, while raised outdoors, is a commercial supplier (Polyface Farms).

I would advise cooking it to the old standard (165) if you are in doubt as to whether the source farm is held to these regulations, or know for a fact they are not. If the nice old guy down the street who raises it pretty much for his family's own use, and doesn't sell commerically, offers you an extra shoulder he doesn't need; or you buy it off the back of a truck on the side of the road, I'd cook it well. If it's purchased in a grocery store, or if it comes out of a restaurant kitchen, a little pink is ok.

Actually, it was a roundworm, not a tapeworm. You are free to continue to overcook it - unless I read the article wrong, this was not a mandate that you could cook it ONLY to 145 and no higher, but rather a statement saying it is safe to (as we in the biz have known for years). Just realize that you are wrong when you state we risk worm infection of any shape. Try not scaring others from enjoying a well cooked ("well" meaning properly, not lengthily) meal with your falsely held insecurities.

Pork can also have tapeworms in addition to trichinella. The key to killing any pathogen when cooking is temperature X time. Pork cooked to a uniform temperature over 130 degrees and held at that temperature for over 30 minutes will be safe to eat. Cut the time and the temperature must go up. At 145 degrees the time is almost zero.

However, just about every post concerning this story relates to the taste of the meat. Many people seem to prefer meat that has had little cooking. People did not start cooking meat for taste. Rather cooking was a way of avoiding deadly food poisoning and parasites. I do not trust the food industry to provide me with 100% safe uncontaminated food 100% of the time. As such, I will continue to err on the side of caution and cook my meat, all my meat, a little more than the minimum recommendation. Does that mean I will stick with the 165 degree level for pork? No, I am more likely to compromise at 155 degrees (medium to medium well).

If trichinosis was a serious risk at the temperature quoted, do you honestly think they would have changed the rule?

They have no good economic motive for the rule change, and the many years it took to change it means it is based on reliable scientific data. Quit being alarmist.

ugh. You couldn't pay me to eat undercooked anything.

Raw celery? Carrots? Tomato? Cucumber? Lettuce? Onion?
Grapes, Berries, apples, peaches, bananas? ....hmmmm.
Need I say more? Except....I wouldn't pay you anyway. lol ;)

LOL!!! you got me good, there, Conway! that was great! doh! (slaps forehead)

Trichinosis - hasn't been a problem for years. Not from lack of cooking but from lack of infection. Incidence has plunged. If your family ever had a case, though, you won't touch pork that isn't as dry and hard as asphalt and is why you may dislike pork. If your family has never had it, you understand the pink and tasty statements.

145 is fine but who ever cooks with a thermometer?

One word (well, an acronym or word alternatively) - BBQ or barbeque. No high heat, only low temps but time. Grilling is not BBQ. Most people grill, purist's barbeque.

And lastly, Mark-1243367, 30 minutes on high heat for a steak? That would be charcoal on the outside! Try 15 to 20 minutes on medium. And remember to season the meat!

Okay, time to go put some baby back ribs on!

Another word: "Bob the builder."

.... Well I guess technically that's three words.