Is the microwave the future for red meat?

We see more red meat being served rare, when traditionally it has always been served fully cooked. This is an increasing trend which seems to be brought on by the very popular cooking shows on TV. Restaurants are encouraging this trend through their menus.

The problem is that food safety is a very real issue with rare meats.

So what is the solution?

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) is working on it.

This includes trials on a US developed microwave technology, which when used on meat for a single second significantly reduces the bacterial load on the tested meat.

MLA Program Manager – Market Access Science and Technology, Dr Ian Jenson, said; “Government regulations also require meat to be completely free of harmful microorganisms. We have been working towards these outcomes for a number of years and these latest trial results are positive in that we now have a technology that is capable of achieving both of these.The results are equivalent to the pasteurisation process for milk, which makes it a better technology than everything except irradiation, which is not acceptable to most consumers.”

The results so far are very positive, but much work needs to be done to determine if this technology will make the rare meat now commonly preferred in restaurants always safe for consumption.