Clostridium difficile survives minimal temperature recommended for cooking ground meats.

We quantified the thermal inhibitory effect of 71°C (recommended for cooking ground meats), and re-heating at 85°C, on food- and food-animal-derived Clostridium difficile spores. All C. difficile strains tested (n=20) survived 71°C for 2 h, but 90% died within 10 min when re-heated at 85°C. Current cooking recommendations would need revision to include C. difficile.