Abstract The introduction of several Not-Ready-to-Eat (NRTE) products, beginning in 2007, has resulted in several recalls and has caused serious concerns about their safe-cooking in microwave ovens. These products are not fully-thermally processed prior to sale but depend upon the consumer to finish cooking them to the safe minimum temperatures, defined by the USDA, in order to destroy any sources of foodborne illnesses. While microwave ovens are a primary means of this finish-cooking step, they are known to cook foods unevenly in terms of temperature distribution, especially from a frozen state, and this may cause parts of the food to be below the required safe-temperature. Hence there are concerns regarding how reliably microwave ovens can provide the minimum required safe temperatures in order to avoid the possibility of foodborne illnesses. To determine this, temperature profiling tests were preformed upon three frozen NRTE entrées, heating them in eight new brand-name 1100-watt and 1200-watt microwave ovens in order to evaluate how well the minimum temperatures were reached throughout the products. By comparison, these same tests were repeated using three “smart” microwave ovens in which internal computer-control makes them user-independent. In addition, a comparison was also made of the microwave output power claimed by the manufacturers of these ovens to that determined using the IEC procedures.

中文翻译：

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微波炉与食品安全：在标准和智能烤箱中制备非即食产品

摘要 2007 年开始推出的几种非即食 (NRTE) 产品导致了多次召回，并引起了对其在微波炉中的安全烹饪的严重担忧。这些产品在销售前没有经过完全热处理，而是取决于消费者将它们烹饪到美国农业部定义的安全最低温度，以消除任何食源性疾病的来源。虽然微波炉是这种最终烹饪步骤的主要手段，但众所周知，它们在温度分布方面会不均匀地烹饪食物，尤其是在冷冻状态下，这可能会导致部分食物低于所需的安全温度。因此，人们担心微波炉如何可靠地提供所需的最低安全温度以避免食源性疾病的可能性。为了确定这一点，对三个冷冻的 NRTE 主菜进行了温度曲线测试，在八个新的品牌 1100 瓦和 1200 瓦微波炉中加热它们，以评估整个产品达到最低温度的程度。相比之下，这些相同的测试使用三个“智能”微波炉重复进行，其中内部计算机控制使它们独立于用户。此外，还对这些烤箱制造商声称的微波输出功率与使用 IEC 程序确定的微波输出功率进行了比较。使用三个“智能”微波炉重复这些相同的测试，其中内部计算机控制使它们独立于用户。此外，还对这些烤箱制造商声称的微波输出功率与使用 IEC 程序确定的微波输出功率进行了比较。使用三个“智能”微波炉重复这些相同的测试，其中内部计算机控制使它们独立于用户。此外，还对这些烤箱制造商声称的微波输出功率与使用 IEC 程序确定的微波输出功率进行了比较。