ORIGINAL: gandilamont
I forgot to add, sometimes bear can get trichinosis. Which is a worm. But it is real rare in the states. And it can be killed before you even cook your meat by freezing it for 30 days! Which most people do anyway. (by the way you have no idea the amount of worms and parasites you eat with ANY meat)
Excerpts from
Trichinae Fact Sheet, by H. Ray Gamble of the USDA:
"Trichinella spiralis
is a parasitic nematode (roundworm) which is found in many warm-blooded carnivores and omnivores, including pigs. ... Transmission from one host to another host can only occur by ingestion of muscle tissue which is infected with the encysted larval stage of the parasite."
So when a bear (or a pig, or whatever) eats a dead animal (bird, fox, coyote, wolf, etc.) that's got the parasite, it gets transferred.
"Cooking - Commercial preparation of pork products by cooking requires that meat be heated to internal temperatures which have been shown to inactivate trichinae. For example,
Trichinella spiralis is killed in 47 minutes at 52
° C (125.6° F), in 6 minutes at 55° C (131° F), and in < 1 minute at
60° C (140° F)."
When I worked for the meat company, the National Pork Producers always told us that 137 degrees was the magic number. They also came out with a campaign to "think pink" when cooking pork. If you get it to 150 or 155 deg., then pull it from the heat & let it stand for 5 or 10 minutes, it'll be tender & juicy, & completely safe. I'd have no problem doing that with bear meat.
I've got a tag for blackies for my upcoming trip to the Kutenays. Hopefully I'll score on one of those delicious, non-garbage fed, non-fish-eating, inland bears! But I
won't be trying Bear Tartare!
FC