If you’re having a barbecue this Bank Holiday weekend and you want to avoid the risk of food poisoning, make sure your burgers are properly cooked through.
That’s the strong advice from experts at the Food Standard Agency (FSA), who have carried out research into British attitudes to “pink” burgers.
Almost nine out of ten of respondents consume burgers, with one in ten saying they like them rare, while more than a third of the adults surveyed admitted they would be willing to eat a burger that wasn’t cooked in the middle.
A third of those who took part wrongly thought eating a pink burger could be equated to enjoying a rare piece of steak. In fact burgers should be piping hot throughout, with no pink meat and juices running clear if the meat it is poked with a skewer.
The FSA wants to get the message across that burgers are not the same as steak, which can be safely eaten even when it is rare because bacteria are killed when the meat is seared in a hot pan.
However, the process of mincing the meat that goes into burgers means the surface bacteria is mixed throughout the product – and it will stay alive unless it is killed off in the cooking process.
Although some diners believe that they are safe eating gourmet burgers in upmarket restaurants and gastropubs, the risk actually remains the same however expensive or high quality the burger is.
Researchers identified three main groups of consumers who they labelled Rejectors, Advocates and Accepters.
The encouraging news for the food safety chiefs is that most respondents (64%) fall into the Rejectors group, saying they would not eat a burger that wasn’t fully cooked, either because they don’t like the taste of had safety concerns.
Younger, wealthier men were most likely to fall into the Advocates group who prefer their burgers rare, citing taste and its image of being part a more fashionable and sophisticated dining experience. Only one in five of the pink burger fans agreed they were taking a risk.
A quarter of respondents did not have a particular preference for undercooked burgers but would not reject one if it was put in front of them. These were labelled Accepters by the study.
More information on how to cook burgers safely can be found at food.gov.uk/burgers.