Final answer:
Cooking (heat) primarily kills bacteria by denaturing their proteins rather than breaking down their cells.
So, the statement is false.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cooking involves applying heat to food, and it works by denaturing the proteins within bacteria. High temperatures disrupt the structure of bacterial proteins, rendering them non-functional, which ultimately leads to the death of the bacteria. While heat can cause some breakdown or damage to the bacterial cell wall or membrane, its primary mechanism for killing bacteria is through protein denaturation.