Food Thermometer Research

Food Thermometer Research

Important research prompted FSIS' Thermy™ educational campaign. The research underscored the fallibility of traditional consumer methods for determining when food is "done." Research also shows effective strategies for changing consumer behavior and encouraging thermometer use.

Thermy checking internal temperature of hamburger patty

Research: Thermometers are Key to Food Safety (PDF Only)
See how color can be misleading when it comes to judging the safety of cooked ground beef patties.

Research Reports: Food Thermometer Use

Focus Groups to Test Materials for the "Is it DONE yet?" Campaign (Dec 31, 2004; PDF Only, 1MB) | Appendices (PDF Only, 2.5 MB)
Communications Guide for Boomburbs Families (Oct 2003) (PDF Only)
Food Thermometer Education Campaign - "Boomburbs" Communications Concept Testing (Mar 2003) (PDF Only)
Thermometer Usage Messages and Delivery Mechanisms for Parents of Young Children and Appendices (Mar 1, 2002) (PDF Only)
Final Research Report: A Project to Apply Theories of Social Marketing To the Challenge of Food Thermometer Education In the United States (Dec 21, 2001)
Thermometer Slogan Focus Group Study (Aug 31, 1999) (PDF Only)
Food Thermometer Campaign Consumer Focus Groups: Summary Report (Jul-Aug 1999) (PDF Only)
Individual reports:
Focus Groups on Barriers that Limit Consumers' Use of Thermometers when Cooking Meat and Poultry Products, Phase One (Jan 1998) (PDF Only)

USDA Research: Premature Browning of Hamburger

Study was a collaborative effort by USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and FSIS.
- Cooked-to-Brown Burgers May Not Tell the Truth (Feb 2, 2001)
Lighting Influences the Perception of Cooked Color of Ground Beef Patties (Jul 31, 1998)
Research conducted by ARS, Athens, GA, in conjunction with a large interagency study on the prevalence of premature browning of hamburgers.

Last Modified: March 15, 2007


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