Food and Drug Branch

FSN98-06  (March 21, 1999)

The Lauren Beth Rudolph Food Safety Act of 1997 (California Uniform Retail Food Facilities Law (CURFFL) Section 113996) provides that the Department of Health Services may authorize cooking guidelines which differ from those contained in Section 113996 when such cooking methods provide equivalent levels of food safety.

The Triarc Restaurant Group, parent corporation of Arby’s®, has petitioned the Department to issue alternative cook time and temperature requirements for Arby’s Self-Basting Beef for Roasting.

Section 113996(a)(1) of CURFFL requires comminuted meat, or any food containing comminuted meat, to be heated to a minimum internal temperature of 155 degrees F for 15 seconds or 157 degrees. Arby’s Self-Basting Beef for Roasting falls under this temperature requirement because it is formulated from chunks of beef and comminuted meat in the form of a beef roast. However, product quality may be adversely affected if this product is cooked to a temperature of 155 or 157 degrees F.

Equivalent cook times and temperatures have been published by the US Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration, in the Model Food Code (1997). These cooking requirements have been established through scientific studies of the survival of Salmonella sp. in cooked beef. The following table shows equivalent time and temperature requirements to 155 degrees F for 15 seconds:

The Department, therefore finds that the Triarc Restaurant Group cook method, as described in the Arby’s® Operating Standards Manual, for Arby’s Self-Basting Beef for Roasting meets or exceeds the requirements of Section 113996(a)(1) of CURFFL and should be approved for use throughout California.

Note: Holding time may include postoven heat rise.