E.coli warning over new advice on pink burgers

ReVISeD guidelines on how restaurants should cook burgers could lead to an e.coli outbreak, according to the country’s leading food safety expert.

Official advice had been to ensure that burgers were cooked through without any pink meat.

But the Food Standards Agency is planning to allow restaurants and pubs to serve them rare or lightly cooked in the middle, providing chefs are satisfied the meat comes from a reputable source.

Hugh Pennington, who is professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, says this is a mistake, especially when households are told to cook all the way through.

‘I don’t know why the FSA is giving this advice about burgers. I think that it is wrong. The science hasn’t changed,’ he said.

‘The risk is low, but the consequences of an e.coli O157 infection can be life-changing, even lethal. At best, you are talking about painful diarrhoea but the complications, for example kidney problems, can’t be prevented once an infection has happened.

‘It is daft to give different advice to restaurants and to those cooking at home. I would not eat a rare burger myself.’

Burgers are more of a concern than a steak because contamination on the outside of a cut of meat can be mixed into the middle of the patty where it gets less heat.

The proposals to change the advice come from FSA officials. The agency’s board will meet next week to decide on the issue. It has been suggested that the agency has been lobbied by gourmet burger restaurants and customers who prefer pink meat.

Professor Pennington added: ‘I hope the FSA isn’t bowing to consumer and burger restaurant pressures. The UK already has one of the highest incidences of e.coli

‘The science has

not changed’

O157 infection in the world. This advice could make it even higher.’

A world expert on the illness, Professor Pennington chaired a public inquiry into an outbreak in South Wales in 2005 that affected 157 people.

Most of the victims were children thought to have become infected from school meals. A five-year-old died. Two years ago, the professor gave evidence in a court case against the Davys winebar and restaurant chain over its decision to sell burgers that were pink in the middle.

He described abattoirs as a ‘microbiological nightmare’ no matter how high their standards.

Davys won the case however after a district judge ruled it had made sufficient efforts to ensure its minced beef came from a safe source. He also said customers had the right to choose.

The firm’s menus now come with the warning: ‘ The Food Standards Agency advises that the consumption of raw or lightly cooked animal products, such as meat, offal and shellfish may cause illness.

‘This especially applies to children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.’ The Byron chain and some rivals plan to use similar warnings.

Professor Guy Poppy, the chief scientific officer at the FSA, said: ‘We are clear that the best way of ensuring burgers are safe to eat is to cook them thoroughly but we acknowledge that some people choose to eat them rare.

‘ The proposals we will be discussing with the FSA board strike a balance between protecting public health and maintaining consumer choice.’

An FSA spokesman insisted the latest advice was not contradictory because it was unrealistic to expect restaurant- style controls to be adhered to in a home environment.

He added: ‘The proposed guidance for food businesses outlines what controls we believe need to be in place for them to serve rare burgers safely to the public.’