cybercat wrote:

> "Christine Dabney" > wrote
>
>>Pork is now considered safe to eat at 140 degrees, which leaves it
>>slightly pink in the middle. Times have changed...
>>
>
> So they don't think Trichinosis is a danger any more?
>

It's been almost completely eliminated from commercial
pork in the US. Even if you consider the remote possibility that
you have an infected cut, the instant kill temp is around
144 F. In practice it's safe a few degrees below that.

Here are the US CFR regs on the required cooking temps for
pork. The 160 F figure you frequently hear is about 50 years
out of date.

<http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=9&PART=318&SECTION=10&YEAR=1998&TYPE =TEXT>

Degrees Minimum time
Degrees fahrenheit centigrade
------------------------------------------------------------------------
120.................................. 49.0 21 hours.
122.................................. 50.0 9.5 hours.
124.................................. 51.1 4.5 hours.
126.................................. 52.2 2 hours.
128.................................. 53.4 1 hour.
130.................................. 54.5 30 minutes.
132.................................. 55.6 15 minutes.
134.................................. 56.7 6 minutes.
136.................................. 57.8 3 minutes.
138.................................. 58.9 2 minutes.
140.................................. 60.0 1 minute.
142.................................. 61.1 1 minute.
144.................................. 62.2 Instant.

--
Reg