Sausages and Food Safety
Summer sausage, kielbasa, bologna, bratwurst:
The list goes on and on. There are so many varieties of sausage.
How long can you store them — and where? Are they fully cooked or not? The
following background information will answer these questions and others. Use the
chart as a guideline for safe storage.
Types of Sausages: Sausages are either uncooked or ready to eat. They can be
made from red meat (for example, beef, pork, lamb, or veal), poultry (turkey or
chicken, for example) or a combination. Uncooked sausages include fresh (bulk,
patties, or links) and smoked sausages.
To prevent food borne illness, uncooked sausages that contain ground beef, lamb,
or veal should be cooked to 160 °F. Uncooked sausages that contain ground turkey
and chicken should be cooked to 165 °F. Uncooked pork sausages must be cooked to
160 °F to prevent food borne illness associated with Trichinella spiralis, a
para../../Site found primarily in pork products.
Ready-to-eat sausages are dry, semi-dry, and/or cooked. Dry sausages may be
smoked, unsmoked, or cooked. Semi-dry sausages are usually heated in a
smokehouse to fully cook the product and partially dry it. Cooked sausages (for
example, bologna, and frankfurters) are cooked and may also be smoked.
Who inspects sausages? USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspects
all sausages in interstate commerce and all sausages that are exported to other
countries. If sausages are made in a retail establishment (such as a grocery
store, meat market, or restaurant) and are sold within the State where the
establishment is located, the sausage may be under the jurisdiction
of that State’s health or agriculture department.
What is on the label? The label provides consumers with information about a
product at the time of sale. Labels are required to bear certain mandatory features including:
(1) the product name;
(2) an ingredients statement;
(3) the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or
distributor;
(4) an accurate statement of the net quantity of contents;
(5) the inspection legend and USDA establishment number;
(6) a safe handling statement if the product is perishable (for example, “Keep
Frozen” or “Keep Refrigerated”);
(7) safe handling instructions, if the meat or poultry component of the product is not ready to eat; and
(8) nutrition facts information. The Nutrition Facts information on the label can help consumers compare products and make more informed, healthy food
choices. If sausages are made and packaged in a local store, the nutrient information on the package is voluntary or it may be at the point of purchase.
The application of a “use” or “sell by” date is optional.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health USDA Meat &
Poultry Hotline agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for
ensuring
that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products
1-888-MPHotline
is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. (1-888-674-6854)
Sausages and Food Safety
What must be listed on The labeling for sausages under FSIS inspection that are
NOT ready to the label of sausages eat must bear certain features such as safe
handling instructions. In cases where the sausage is partially cooked or
otherwise appears
that are NOT ready to cooked but requires cooking by the consumer for safety,
FSIS requires eat? Additional labeling features such as a prominent statement on
the principal display panel, for example, “Uncooked, Ready to cook, Cook before eating, Cook and
serve,” or “Needs to be fully cooked.”
In addition, the product should display cooking directions that are sufficient
for the intended user. The manufacturer would have to validate that the cooking
directions are sufficient to destroy any pathogens that could be present.
If a sausage is perishable, the label must say “Keep Refrigerated.” Some
federally inspected shelf-stable sausages are not ready to eat. If so, they will
be labeled as above but will not have “Keep Refrigerated” on the label.
Definition of Fresh: Fresh sausages are a coarse or finely “comminuted” (reduced
to minute Sausages particles) meat food product prepared from one or more kinds
of meat, or meat and meat “byproducts” (heart, kidney, or liver, for example).
They may contain water not exceeding 3% of the total ingredients in the product.
They are usually seasoned, frequently cured, and may contain binders and
extenders (for example, wheat flour, and non-fat dry milk). They must be kept
refrigerated and thoroughly cooked before eating.
Content of Fresh • “Fresh Pork Sausages” may not contain pork byproducts and may
Sausages contain no more than 50% fat by weight.
• “Fresh Beef Sausages” may not contain beef byproducts and may contain no more
than 30% fat by weight.
• “Breakfast Sausages” may contain meat and meat byproducts and no more than 50%
fat by weight.
• “Whole Hog Sausage” contains meat from swine in such proportions as are normal
to a single animal and no more than 50% fat by weight.
• “Italian Sausage Products” are cured or uncured sausages containing at least
85% meat, or a combination of meat and fat, with the total fat content
constituting not more than 35% of the finished product. It contains salt,
pepper, fennel and/or anise and no more than 3% water. Optional ingredients
permitted in Italian Sausages are spices (including paprika) and flavorings, red
or green peppers, onions, garlic and parsley, sugar, dextrose and corn syrup.
Cooked and/or Smoked Cooked and/or smoked sausages are made of one or more
different Sausages kinds of chopped or ground meats which have been seasoned,
cooked
and/or smoked. Meat byproducts may be used. Included in this category are:
• liverwurst
• hot dogs
• bologna
• knockwurst
• cooked bratwurst
• braunschweiger
• cooked Thuringer
• cooked salami*
*Cooked Salami (not dry) is made from fresh meats which are cured, stuffed into
casings and cooked in a smokehouse at high temperature. It may be air dried for
a short time. It has a softer texture than dry and semi-dry sausages and must be
refrigerated.
Meat Specialties Some meat specialties are ready-to-eat sausage-like products.
These are
made from comminuted meats that are seasoned and usually cooked or baked rather
than smoked. They are usually sliced and served cold. Included in this category
are:
• chopped ham loaf
• peppered loaf
• head cheese
• jellied corned beef
• ham and cheese loaf
• honey loaf
• old fashioned loaf
• olive loaf
• pickle and pimento loaf
• scrapple
• souse
• veal loaf
Dry and Semi-Dry Dry and semi-dry sausages are possibly the largest category of
dried
meats, particularly in the United States. These products can be
fermented Sausages by bacterial growth for preservation and to produce the
typical tangy flavor. Alternatively, they may be cultured with lactic acid —
much as cheese, pickle, and yogurt makers do — to eliminate the fermentation
phase and shorten the process. They are, with a few exceptions, cooked.
Fermentation is one of the oldest methods of preserving meats. Dry sausages —
such as pepperoni, and semi-dry sausages such as Lebanon bologna and summer
sausage, have had a good safety record for hundreds of years.
In this procedure, a mixture of curing ingredients, such as salt and sodium
nitrite, and a “starter” culture of lactic acid-bacteria, is mixed with chopped
and ground meat, placed in casings, fermented, and then dried by a carefully
controlled, long, continuous air-drying process. The amount of acid produced
during fermentation and the lack of moisture in the finished product after
drying typically have been shown to cause
pathogenic bacteria to die.
Dry sausages require more time to make than other types of sausages and are a
more concentrated form of meat. Dried sausages
range from 60% to 80% of their original weight before drying.
Semi-dry sausages are usually heated in the smokehouse to fully cook the product
and partially dry it. Semi-dry sausages are semi-soft sausages with good keeping
qualities due to their lactic acid fermentation and sometimes heavy application
of smoke. Some are mildly seasoned, and some are quite spicy and strongly
flavored.
What are examples of Dry sausages include:
dry and semi-dry • Sopressata (a name of a salami) • pepperoni (not cooked, air
dried) sausages? • Genoa Salami (Italian, usually made from pork but may have a
small amount of beef; it is moistened with wine or grape juice and seasoned with
garlic)
Semi-dry sausages include:
• summer sausage
• Lebanon bologna
• Cervelat
• Thuringer
Are any sausages shelf Some dry sausages are shelf stable (in other words, they
do not need to Stable? be refrigerated or frozen to be stored safely). Dry
sausages require more
production time than other types of sausage and result in a concentrated form of
meat. If the product is shelf stable and ready to eat, the product is not
required to have a safe handling statement, cooking directions or a “Keep
Refrigerated” statement.
Should people “at risk” Because dry sausages are not cooked,
people “at risk” (older adults, very young children, pregnant women, and those
with immune systems eat dry sausages? weakened by disease or organ transplants) might want to
avoid eating them. The bacterium E. coli O157:H7 can survive the process of dry
fermenting, and in 1994, some children became ill after eating dry cured salami
containing the bacteria.
After the outbreak, FSIS developed specific processing rules for making dry sausages that must be
followed or the product must be heat treated. These products are included in the
FSIS microbial sampling program for E. coli O157:H7, and in 1997, FSIS began to test fermented sausages for Salmonella and
Listeria monocytogenes.
Dates on Packaged Although dating is a voluntary program and not required by the
Federal government, if a date is used, it must
state what the date means. The Sausages product can be used after the date,
provided it was stored safely. Follow the guidelines on the following page for
maximum quality in sausage products.
• “Sell-By” date - tells the store how long to display the product for sale. You
should buy the product before the date expires.
• “Best if Used By (or Before)” date - date by which the product should be used
for best flavor and quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
• “Use-By” date - the last date recommended for use of the product while at peak
quality.
Storage All sausage — except dry sausage — is perishable and therefore must be
kept refrigerated. For maximum quality, follow the storage times in the Sausage
Storage Chart.
SAUSAGE STORAGE CHART
• If the sausage has a “use-by” date, follow that date. It is the last date
recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. The date has been
determined by the manufacturer of the product:
• If the sausage has a “sell-by” date, or no date, store it for the times
recommended below.
• Freeze sausage if you can’t use it within times the times recommended for
refrigerator storage. Once frozen it doesn’t matter if the date expires because
foods kept frozen continuously are safe indefinitely.
TYPE OF SAUSAGE REFRIGERATOR - REFRIGERATOR - IN FREEZER
UNOPENED AFTER OPENING (for best quality)
Fresh Sausage, uncooked 1 to 2 days unopened 1 to 2 days unopened 1 to 2 months
or opened or opened
Fresh Sausage, after cooking (not applicable 3 to 4 days 2 to 3 months by consumer
Hard/Dry Sausage Whole, 6 weeks in 3 weeks Sliced, pantry; indefinitely in 1 to
2 months refrigerator.
Hot Dogs and other Cooked 2 weeks 7 days 1 to 2 months
Sausage Luncheon meat 2 weeks 3 to 5 days 1 to 2 months
Summer Sausage (Semi-dry) 3 months 3 weeks 1 to 2 months
Food Safety Questions?
Call the USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline Ask Karen!
If you have a question The Hotline is open year-round FSIS’ automated response about meat, poultry, or
Monday through Friday system can provide food safety egg products, call the from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. information 24/7.
USDA Meat and ET (English or Poultry Hotline Spanish). Recorded toll free at food safety messages
1-888-MPHotline are available 24 hours (1-888-674-6854); a day. Check out the
TTY: 1-800-256-7072. FSIS Web ../../Site at www.fsis.usda.gov.
Send E-mail questions to MPHotline.fsis@usda.gov. AskKaren.gov
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