Skip to content

Join the All Ireland Obesity Action Forum

Sign up

Join the All Ireland Obesity Action Forum

Sign up

Join the All Ireland Obesity Action Forum

Sign up


Assessment of the Safety of Sous Vide Cooking at Lower Temperatures

Decorative image

  • Project start date: 1 October 2018
  • Project status: Completed
  • Project type: Food safety
  • Discipline: Microbiology and food hygiene
  • Author/s: Mrs Elizabeth Saggers, QIB Extra

Research objective

The study assessed the safety of sous vide cooking at temperatures below 60°C, as many chefs and recipes use such low temperatures, which may not reliably inactivate foodborne pathogens.

Outputs

Research report

  • Title: Assessment of the safety of Sous vide cooking at lower temperatures
  • Publication date: 10 September 2019
  • Summary: Unpublished report available on request.
  • Findings:
    • A survey of Irish restaurants (29 responses) identified common sous vide foods (beef, duck, chicken, pork, lamb, fish). Most were cooked above 60°C, but some were below
    • Listeria monocytogenes survived all tests below 60°C, including after storage.
    • E. coli O157:H7 on beef at 55°C showed minimal inactivation.
    • Salmonella survival depended on the meat: in pork it was inactivated at 56–59°C, but in duck and pigeon it persisted even at 59°C.
    • Product type (fat composition, texture, etc.) influenced pathogen survival.

    Survey response rates were low, so wider monitoring is still needed.

  • Recommendations:
    1. Continue monitoring sous vide practices in the restaurant sector.
    2. More scientific studies are required for accurate risk assessment of <60°C cooking.
    3. Products cooked sous vide below 60°C should not be considered ready-to-eat; they must undergo further heat treatment.
    4. Safety depends not only on temperature and time, but also on the food type.



Similar research

Safefood Logo

Sign up for our family focused healthy eating and food safety news.

Safefood logo

The site content is redirecting to the NI version.

Confirm