Are safe temperatures for meat scientifically measured or empirical? For example 165°F/74°C for poultry. If they are scientifically measured, how are they determined?

Question

Are safe temperatures for meat scientifically measured or empirical? For example 165°F/74°C for poultry. If they are scientifically measured, how are they determined?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Scientifically measured and empirical are the same, ultimately. You take a piece or meat. You measure the bacterial content – mostly by cultivating them and count what is usually called cfus – colony forming units. You heat another part of it by x degrees and do it again. So you get a curve of how many bacteria survive at which temperature and you can deduce a safe threshold for it.