So bacteria in the center of a hamburger patty, for example, might survive the heat of cooking.

CNN: South Korea finds some U.S. beef tainted

One of his pet projects is a conveyor broiler due out next year--put a hamburger patty on its moving belt and it emerges two-and-a-half minutes later fully cooked.

FORBES: Best Small U.S. Companies

Such is the intent, under the guise of convenience, of such foods as Ore Ida's blue French fries, Eastern Foods' purple pizzas, and ConAgra's Kid Cuisine, which features TV dinners like the Sandwich Builder a hamburger meal with a patty shaped like a house and cookies that look like bricks.

NPR: Rabid Reader: 'Fat Land' and U.S. Supersizing

Fair warning: There are purists who argue that anything other than a beef patty is not a hamburger.

NPR: Building a Better Burger