Or you could just irradiate it . . .

Well, what won't they think of next? Cranberry concentrate apparently slows bacterial growth without altering meat flavor. Of course, irradiation would do even better . . . but radiating your meat would make you radioactive, right? And cranberries -- it's like you get a serving of fruit in your hamburger!

Sometimes, I just . . .

Cranberries shown to prevent bacteria growth in hamburgers without affecting taste

By Ann Bagel Storck on 8/6/2007 for Meatingplace.com

Building a better burger usually involves ingredients like lettuce, tomato and cheese, but new research shows cranberries might be the most important addition of all. Dr. Vivian Chi Hua Wu at the University of Maine led a study that found cranberries can help reduce the growth of bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli in beef patties without affecting how burgers taste. In a study presented last year at the Institute of Food Technologists show, researchers added cranberry concentrate to samples of raw ground beef tainted with several types of bacteria that frequently cause food-related illness. After observing the ground beef over several days, scientists discovered that the cranberry concentrate significantly reduced the growth of salmonella, E. coli and other dangerous bacteria in the beef. In the new study, Wu and her colleagues reproduced these results with a strain of pathogenic E. coli and tested the effect of different amounts of cranberry on the taste of burgers. "We focused on taste and found that it wasn't sacrificed," Wu said. "This is great news for consumers who are seeking natural alternatives to chemical additives in food."