Minced beef

Minced beef goes into a lot of home cooking, from a sauce for pasta to a pie. The pack tells you how much fat is in it. Mince also has its own rules for cooking and keeping, because of the way it is made. This page covers both.

What the fat figure on the label means

In the UK, the law sets limits for anything sold as minced meat. Each limit is a daily average. The rules sit in an annex to the food information regulation, Regulation 1169/2011, as it applies in the UK.

The label must carry the words percentage of fat content under …, with the figure. It must also carry collagen/meat protein ratio under …. The law defines that ratio as the percentage of collagen in the meat protein.

Mince outside those limits can still be sold in England, Scotland and Wales, as long as it carries the national mark set out in each nation's Food Information Regulations 2014.

Cooking mince through

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says, Any meat that has been minced or skewered all the way through should be cooked thoroughly. It explains why. When a whole cut of meat is minced or skewered, this moves any bacteria from the outside all the way through the meat.

Without a thermometer, the FSA gives two checks. The mince should be steaming, in the middle as well as on the surface. It should also have browned.

AHDB's beef guide fries mince in a good heavy-based pan, either dry or with a little oil, for 4 to 6 minutes. Burgers are mince too, and the FSA says they shouldn't be served rare or pink at home.

Storing and freezing raw mince

The FSA asks for raw mince to be kept in the fridge at the ideal temperature of 5°C or below. Keep it covered, on the bottom shelf, so it cannot drip onto other food.

A pack of mince carries a use-by date. GOV.UK explains that a use-by date tells you when the food is no longer safe to eat. You can still use the mince after that date if you cooked or froze it on or before it.

The FSA says you can freeze food right up until midnight on the use-by date. It says meats are usually best eaten within 2 to 3 months of freezing, and it gives that as a guide to quality. Defrost mince in the fridge, and use it within 24 hours of it fully defrosting.

Leftover mince dishes

A cooked mince dish that is not eaten straight away should go into the fridge within one to two hours. The FSA suggests dividing it into smaller portions so it cools faster. Eat it within 48 hours, or freeze it.

The FSA calls the range from 8 to 63°C the Danger Zone, because bacteria can grow there. So reheat leftovers until steaming hot throughout, stir them as they heat, and reheat them only once.

Mince in volume

The FSA has a page on one bacterium that affects batch cooking. It says Clostridium perfringens can develop spores which can survive cooking and grow during slow cooling and unrefrigerated storage. Its outbreaks tend to happen where large groups of people are being served.

The FSA's Safer food, better business pack asks caterers to avoid cooking large quantities in advance unless they need to. Food that will not be served straight away is chilled as quickly as possible. The pack suggests smaller portions, stirring, standing pans in cold water, or a blast chiller.

The same pack says, Remember, reheating means cooking again, not just warming up. In England, cooked food held for service must be kept at 63°C or above where that is needed for safety. In Scotland, a business that reheats cooked food for serving must raise it to at least 82°C. The law allows a lower temperature where 82°C would spoil the food.

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