Guidance summary
Summary of the less than thoroughly cooked beef burgers guidance for food businesses and local authorities.
Purpose
This guidance gives advice to food businesses and local authority (LA) officers on controls and safe systems which can reduce the risks associated with less than thoroughly cooked (LTTC) beef burgers, sometimes referred to as rare, pink or lightly cooked burgers.
Legal status
This document contains regulatory guidance and best practice. Regulatory guidance specifies how food business operators can comply with legislation. Best practice is not required by law.
Who is this publication for?
This guidance is for:
- businesses serving LTTC beef burgers
- local authority officers enforcing food hygiene official controls
- it may also be of interest to manufacturers and processors of beef, minced beef and beef burgers intended to be less than thoroughly cooked
Review date
We will review this guidance before Month 202X.
Contacts
We welcome your feedback on this guidance.
Please contact us by email at burgerenquiries@food.gov.uk
Downloading this guidance
You can:
- use the ‘View as PDF’ option at the top of each page to download individual pages of this guidance
- use the 'View entire guide as PDF’ option placed at the bottom of each page to download the entire guidance as one document
Revision history
- Month 2022 - Guidance amended to be easier to understand. Advice to buy minced beef and beef burgers from specifically approved premises added. Change of format from a PDF document to HTML webpages for accessibility.
- June 2018 - Revision to consumer messaging
- May 2016 - Original guidance published
We are consulting on this draft guidance. Take part in our burgers guidance consultation.