Ruggi.SiteFood safety temperatures
Safe minimum internal temperatures, holding and cooling guidance with the source named, a danger-zone stopwatch and a probe thermometer helper.
Safety reference, not a substitute for your local food authority or HACCP plan. Rules differ by country, product and process. If your authority publishes a different number, follow it.
Safe minimum internal temperatures
Source: US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS), "Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart". Transcribed by the page author on 2026-11-07 from the published chart; the live website could not be re-opened while preparing this page, so please confirm against the current chart at fsis.usda.gov. Celsius values are converted from the Fahrenheit figures and rounded to 0.1.
| Food | Minimum internal temperature | Note (as published by USDA) |
|---|
Not listed here: other countries' rules (some authorities give a lower temperature held for a longer time), game, stuffed products, sous-vide, and other special processes. Check your local authority.
Holding, cooling and the 2-hour rule
| Guidance | Value | Source |
|---|
Danger-zone timer
Time food has spent between about 5 C / 41 F and 60 C / 140 F. USDA states the zone as 40 F to 140 F (4.4 C to 60 C); many other sources use 5 C to 60 C. The limits below are the USDA time limits. Start the timer when food leaves safe temperature, pause it when it is back in range; the total keeps adding up.
00:00:00
Is this temperature in the danger zone?
Probe thermometer helper
Check your probe in ice water
Fill a glass with crushed ice, add just enough cold water to fill the gaps, stir, wait a minute, and hold the probe tip in the middle without touching the glass. It should read 0 C / 32 F. Enter what it shows:
Boiling water is also used, but it reads below 100 C at altitude and with weather, so ice water is the steadier check. Many probes have an adjustment procedure in their manual.
Resting
For whole cuts of beef, pork, veal and lamb, USDA's chart gives 145 F (62.8 C) and a 3-minute rest time after removing from the heat; the rest is part of the safety instruction, not only of the eating quality. Rest times for other foods and for large roasts vary: follow your recipe or authority.