Pork

Pork's cooking temperature guidance was historically set higher than beef's -- 160°F -- specifically to kill Trichinella, the parasite responsible for trichinosis. That risk was once real: trichinosis cases in the United States numbered around 400 per year in the 1940s, largely traced to hogs that picked up the parasite through contact with wildlife or raw garbage feed.

Modern hog farming changed that exposure pathway. The Federal Swine Health Protection Act of 1980 banned feeding raw garbage to swine, and the industry's broader shift to indoor confinement, rodent control, and reduced wildlife contact sharply cut the parasite's presence in commercial pork -- US trichinosis cases fell to 20 or fewer per year by the 2000s.

In May 2011, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service formally lowered the recommended safe minimum temperature for whole-cut pork from 160°F to 145°F, paired with a mandatory 3-minute rest. The science behind the change wasn't new: Trichinella is killed at temperatures well below 145°F, and FSIS determined that 145°F held with a 3-minute rest was just as effective at eliminating pathogens as the old 160°F standard with no rest period.

The change also reflected how much safer commercial pork had already become due to farming practice changes, allowing the cooking guidance to catch up to a lower actual risk level -- and letting cooked pork retain more moisture and a hint of pink at the center without compromising safety.