The amounts in the reference foods
USDA’s final SR Legacy 2018 release reports ground beef patty,90% lean, pan-broiled: 23 mg per 100 g; ground beef crumbles,90% lean, pan-browned: 27 mg per 100 g; ground beef loaf,90% lean, baked: 21 mg per 100 g. These are named historical reference foods, not measurements of a current package or meal. [1]
What changes the interpretation
These entries describe different cooked preparations of 90%-lean ground beef. They are not paired measurements proving that one cooking method always retains more magnesium. Raw meat, steak and a mixed meatloaf recipe can require other records. The concentration does not by itself establish how much a person absorbs or whether a supplement is needed. [1]
A hypothetical portion comparison
For three hypothetical 85 g edible cooked portions, the estimates are 19.55 mg for the patty,22.95 mg for the crumbles and 17.85 mg for the loaf. Keep the food description with the number when comparing a food log. The table uses the explicitly chosen edible weights. Scale a matching per-100-g value by the grams eaten divided by 100; a count of pieces or an unspecified spoonful is not the same denominator. [1]
| Food | Chosen portion | Nutrient estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Ground beef patty,90% lean, pan-broiled | 85 g | 19.55 mg |
| Ground beef crumbles,90% lean, pan-browned | 85 g | 22.95 mg |
| Ground beef loaf,90% lean, baked | 85 g | 17.85 mg |
Sources for this article
- USDA FoodData Central — SR Legacy April 2018 composition and portion tables
Source consulted: 2026-09-20. This is a reference resource, not a claim that we conducted the studies or tested a product.