(This is a re-post of my Storify article, which follows on from this one)
Following the FSA’s decision to recommend potential controls for serving rare burgers to consenting adults, I’ve been getting a little cross about this. Here’s an update.
I was travelling back from France over Tuesday and Wednesday so hadn’t caught up with whether the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) had considered their public health position on the FSA proposals.

Just got back to UK; have @The_CIEH and @TIFSIP come up with a public health position on #RareBurgers since last week? Happy to provide one!
It turned out they had.

cieh.org/media/CIEH-comment-FSA-report-serving-rare-burgers.html … Comment on #RareBurgers from @The_CIEH recognising complexity of “controls”. I’ll still have mine well-done thanks.
And in the online newsletter for the environmental health community, Professor Hugh Pennington was cited in support of the CIEH’s position:

ehn-online.com/news/article.aspx?id=14613 … Concern for public health brings @The_CIEH out against #RareBurgers and @EHN_Online cites Hugh Pennington in support.
EHN Online has written articles on the topic previously, and again Professor Pennington offers his unequivocal advice. And it’s not in support of the faddish and foolish:

“Professor Hugh Pennington told @EHN_Online in July that the risks could not be managed safely.” Only thorough cooking will do #RareBurgers.

The only safe burger is thoroughly cooked or irradiated, Hugh Pennington tells @EHN_Online #RareBurgers @foodgov http://www.ehn-online.com/news/article.aspx?id=14613 …
Personally and professionally, it remains my opinion that for the FSA to even hint that it is possible for rare burgers to be safely prepared and sold to the public will only encourage the less capable and competent sectors of the catering industry to think that they’re safe to prepare and sell without bothering with all the rigmarole. After all, what can possibly go wrong?

Hugh Pennington: “maybe every thousandth meal will kill you, but that is too many.” http://www.ehn-online.com/news9202.html #RareBurgers @EHN_Online @foodgov
The proposed controls suggested by the FSA read more like sophisticated theology than a simple set of rules to ensure the service of safe food. And that’s the clue folks! If it’s that bloody hard to do safely, it almost certainly can’t be done safely.

Pennington: just a matter of time before potentially fatal E.coli outbreak following trend in #RareBurgers http://www.ehn-online.com/news9202.html @foodgov