Before you toss that burger on the grill.... (fat content determines how fast dangerous microorganisms such as E. coli are killed during cooking)

The Jack-in-the-Box crisis that resulted in at least three deaths and over 100 hospitalizations may have been the most widely publicized case of food contaminated with the bacteria known as E. coli 0157:H7, but it was by no means the only one. There have already been 16 reported outbreaks of illness caused by the undercooking of food that harbored the dangerous microorganism.

The way to avoid illness, of course, is to cook flesh foods--beef, poultry, and pork--until the juices run clear, without a trace of pink. Proper heating kills the bacteria. But there's a second precaution consumers can take--cook up leaner cuts of meat.

In testing ground beef, ground …