[noxToken]

What people don't realize is that the USDA and FDA operate on guidelines such that the most basic cook can follow them. J Kenji Lopez-Alt points this out in his book Food Lab. There are graphs that show that there are safe temperatures for foods below the often quoted temperatures. 165 for chicken is quoted as the minimum safe temperature, but that's actually the instant temperature. Holding chicken at 155 is safe as long as it's done for the recommended amount of time.

The USDA just wants to prevent wide-spread food borne illnesses that are easily preventable. Hence why the small scale experiments where someone eats chicken only cooked to 155 turn out successful all the time.

Note that this isn't to discredit what you're saying. I just wanted to point out that there's more to the guidelines than the parroted parts.

[plorkyeran]

I think many just misunderstand what the food safety guidelines are. The USDA gives you instructions that if you attempt to follow, you will (almost certainly) be safe from any remotely common sources of problems. What it isn't is a set of rules that you absolutely will get in trouble if you violate any of them, or the only possible way to be safe.

[bostonvaulter2]

> I think many just misunderstand what the food safety guidelines are. The USDA gives you instructions that if you attempt to follow, you will (almost certainly) be safe from any remotely common sources of problems.

I agree with this. But the reason that "many misunderstand what the food safety guidelines are" is because of how they're worded. They're worded as if, if you don't follow them then you will definitely get in trouble.

[ansible]

Yes, the point of the rules is not that you can just skirt the edge of safety.

The intention of the rules is that they be easy to understand, easy to follow, and you won't be in danger if you mess up a little bit.

[wnissen]

Yes, this is what's being left out. The standards are not designed for someone who is capable about writing an essay discussing the tradeoffs and and evidence for various standards. The standards are designed for someone who is not capable of writing, period. Not that people working in commercial kitchens are unintelligent or untrained, but some are, at least in the language in which they're working. "Only use stuff that says NSF, keep cold under 40, hot over 140." That can be conveyed in a few seconds, to almost anyone.

Furthermore, it provides you a margin of safety. 165 for chicken is going to be pretty dry for white meat, but I'd choose that over medium rare!

If the guidelines occupied a poster-size tree it would be much more difficult to follow them and the consequences would be much more severe.

I also make it a point never to take food safety advice from anyone who doesn't know the difference between "sanitized" and "sterilized".