by Susan Klatz Beal

Created on: August 19, 2010   Last Updated: August 24, 2010

There are often factors that are beyond our control that can taint meat and cause it to harbor certain bacteria. While this can happen often, it is usually not a health issue for most people because proper cooking methods can kill those bacteria and make the meat safe to eat. There are still other things that can happen, and when people cook meat on a grill, the heat from the grill may not always kill the bacteria that different types of meat can spread on a grill.

Here is some information to explain the importance of cooking meat at a barbecue thoroughly.

*Cooking the meat to a high enough temperature to kill bacteria-

When you are having a party, you may be cooking different types of meat on the grill at the same time. Unless you cook each type of meat to the proper temperature required for that type of meat, you may be unknowingly, allowing cross contamination from the different types of meat to transfer bacteria from one type of meat to another. By properly cooking the meat, you can be assured that any bacteria will be killed and that your guests aren't likely to get sick from your food.

*Visually inspecting the meat to determine if it's done -

Meat that is cooked on a grill (as opposed to barbecuing,) is cooked over high, direct heat. What often happens with this type of cooking is that the outside of the meat cooks very quickly. Just because the outside of the meat looks like it is charred or fully cooked, that doesn't necessarily mean that the meat is fully cooked. There are all sorts of bacteria that can infect meat, and that can happen in your kitchen, where you prepare the food, or at the store where the meat is packaged or cut.

*Not all people have strong immune systems -

We live in a world in which all sorts of factors compromise our immune systems. That means that not all bodies are capable of fighting off any potential bacteria that is likely to be found in grilled meat that isn't fully cooked. Additionally, if the meat is not fully cooked, it's safe to say that the meat didn't get hot enough to kill all of the bacteria.

*Cross contamination on the grill -

Another thing people probably don't think about when grilling is that because they previously had raw meat on the grill, by placing more raw meat on the grill, there is always the possibility that bacteria from one type of meat can contaminate another type of meat, and the method for spreading the bacteria is the very place where the meat is being cooked.

*Heating the grill doesn't guarantee that

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