Final answer:
High-temperature methods like boiling, baking, and grilling can kill bacteria in ground meats, whereas freezing only halts their growth without killing them. It's important to reach the necessary temperatures to ensure food safety and prevent foodborne illnesses.
Step-by-step explanation:
Methods of Microbial Control in Foods
Ground meats need to reach a high temperature to ensure that any bacteria they harbor are destroyed. This is a widely acknowledged method of microbial control in food safety. Among the common methods of doing so, boiling, baking, and grilling are all high-temperature processes capable of killing bacteria by altering cell membranes and denaturing proteins.
Freezing, on the other hand, stops bacterial growth but does not necessarily kill bacteria, which make it an unsuitable method for destroying microbes in ground meats in this context.
For instance, to safely consume foods that could contain C. botulinum bacteria and their endospores, a higher temperature, such as that achieved in pressure canning, is necessary. Boiling food may kill many types of microorganisms but isn't effective against all, especially endospores that can survive boiling temperatures.
Refrigeration and freezing are methods used to preserve food by slowing or halting microbial growth; however, they do not eliminate bacteria and are not considered a sterilization method for ground meats.
For effective microbial control in foods, especially ground meats, high-temperature cooking methods like grilling, baking, or boiling should be employed to ensure safety and prevent foodborne diseases.