Although cooking meat kills the microorganisms in it, they may survive gentle frying and roasting, especially if the meat was not properly defrosted before preparation. Inspectors for the U.S. Department of Agriculture test for Salmonella in a sample of chicken at a meat-packing plant. The sample is found to have a bacteria count of 35 colony-forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL). The sample is kept at a temperature of 80°F, and 6 hours later the count is 20,000 CFU/mL.
