Is It Actually Illegal To Order A Medium-Rare Burger At A Restaurant?

There's nothing like a good burger. Burgers are an American institution. There's real joy in going out and ordering a burger just the way you want it, cooked precisely to your liking — even if your liking happens to be medium-rare.

Ordering a medium-rare burger in a restaurant isn't technically illegal in this country, but it can be a risky endeavor for both you and the restaurant serving you. That pink center some people strive for might jeopardize their health, and if several people get sick the restaurant they ordered their burgers from probably isn't going to be feeling too well either — and its reputation will be at stake.

That's because medium-rare is considered undercooked and serving undercooked beef has resulted in multiple cases of E. coli outbreaks, causing illness and sometimes even death. (Note that while serving an undercooked burger is not illegal, serving an E. coli-contaminated one still is.) If a burger isn't cooked at 155 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds (and ideally it'll be cooked to 160 degrees), any E. coli or other buggers that are enjoying that beef as much as you are will survive. That said, when a burger does get cooked longer and hotter, it's not only the pathogens that are killed — the medium-rare aspect also dies.

A medium-rare burger is a taste preference for people. Beef tends to dry out as it cooks down, so the closer to well-done that you get, the drier is your dinner. Less-cooked beef is going to be much juicier. But that delicious, juicy burger could come at a cost.

Naturally, you can do whatever you want at home. You can eat spoonfuls of ground beef straight from the shrink-wrapped package if you want to. No laws apply. In a restaurant, however, that beef has to be held to much stricter standards. (It's interesting to note that a steak that is served rare is considered safer and less penetrable by microorganisms than ground beef.) Let's say you want your burger underdone (and you have a right to have it that way); the restaurant wants to keep you happy and give you the burger of your dreams but doesn't want to be held liable if anyone gets sick. So, how does everyone find a happy medium(-rare)?

According to the FDA Food Code Inspection Form, restaurants can serve any temperature meat that they or their diners desire as long as they stick a warning on the menu or elsewhere advising that if you order meat on the squishy side you are gambling with your health. The gist of this advisory must be, "Raw or undercooked meat can make you sick. Order at your own risk." How strictly this is enforced and the severity of penalties for violating it are then addressed at the state level.

Although the guidelines are fairly consistent across the board, you might run into certain local or statewide variations. (Undercooked beef was outright banned in North Carolina until 2012.) And, of course, a restaurant can refuse to take your burger off the grill too soon if it chooses to err on the side of caution (McDonald's is one example). It's also important to note that, with few exceptions, medium-rare burgers are indeed forbidden in Canada, so your across-the-border beef will almost never be pink.