Notice: The consumption of raw or undercooked eggs, meat, poultry, sea

[Holly Moore]

More and more often menus include the statement, "Notice: The consumption of raw or undercooked eggs, meat, poultry, seafood or shellfish may increase your risk of food borne illness." More simply put, "Eating our food may make you really sick and, in rare instances, kill you dead."

I'm curious if this is a requirement by the local health department, mandated by a restaurant's insurance company, a recommendation from their lawyer, or merely a restaurateur copying what he has seen elsewhere - a viral, viral disclaimer.

Maybe a restaurant that includes such a disclaimer should add a symbol, like a skull and crossbones, next to those dishes they serve that increase one's risk of food born illness.

[emilyr]

In the county where I work, it's required by the county health department to have a notice if the burgers are offered less than medium-well. Most of them begin their warning with something like "In accordance with Boone County Health Department rules, customers should be warned..." I can almost hear the eye-rolling from my seat.

[Florida]

Here it's a required posting by the Chicago Dept of Public Health.

[cteavin]

I'm curious. What good does posting that do besides reenforce the prejudices of people who wouldn't eat raw or rare foods, anyway?

(shakes head in disapproval)

I live in Japan and there's plenty that's raw on the menu including the lesser known horse and liver. Customers here would never put up with that kind of notice.

[Shamanjoe]

I always thought it was an insurance thing myself. Sure we'll cook you a rare burger or steak, but if you get sick from it, it's not our fault!

I'll have to look for the link, I even remember reading somewhere that a place was requiring customers to sign a waiver if they wanted their steaks less then medium-well (shudders).

[maggiethecat]

In Ottawa I was astounded to find out that if I wanted a burger medium I'd have to sign a legal document. I was even more astounded when my fellow diners couldn't understand why I'd want a medium burger. Ah, Ottawa.

[boagman]

It's the law in the state of Michigan, though there's no law against adding text to the end of it to point out its absurdity. Saw it just a couple of nights ago at Redcoat Tavern in Royal Oak, Michigan.

"As well, eating solid food greatly increases your risk of choking, and we'd also like to remind you that walking upright greatly increases your risk of falling."

I really, *really* enjoyed that little tidbit.

[SauceRobert]

It's the law in the state of Michigan, though there's no law against adding text to the end of it to point out its absurdity. Saw it just a couple of nights ago at Redcoat Tavern in Royal Oak, Michigan.

"As well, eating solid food greatly increases your risk of choking, and we'd also like to remind you that walking upright greatly increases your risk of falling."

I really, *really* enjoyed that little tidbit.

haha thats great... stupid politics... I always order burgers mid rare, steaks rare, eat raw oysters and raw eggs... hmm im sick alot too... hehe just kidding!

[tomdarch]

How about "100% of cancer cases have been associated with the consumption of dihydrogen oxide!"

("dihydrogen" = H2, "oxide" = O --> H2O --> water!)

[lesliec]

All of the people who ate potatoes in 1862 are now dead! There's a lesson there ...

[bjcohan]

Holly, it's required in Philadelphia. Health Department just told me so. :-(

[lancastermike]

Required in the whole glorious Commonwealth by the PA Dept of Agriculture, Holly. If they come to inspect you and you do not have it, it is a violation.

[AStewart]

In the state of Washington its a legal requirement of the health department, I remember asking an inspector about it, and it came down to either having that on the menu, or banning certain types of foods. I think they made the right choice.

[bjcohan]

"As well, eating solid food greatly increases your risk of choking, and we'd also like to remind you that walking upright greatly increases your risk of falling."

That's great. I wish I had thought of that when I did our menus. Instead, I prefaced the warning with "Required by the Food Police:..."

If I have room, I might get snarkier when I redo them.

Barb

Edited April 30, 2011 by bjcohan (log)

[Moopheus]

That's great. I wish I had thought of that when I did our menus. Instead, I prefaced the warning with "Required by the Food Police:..."

More like a result of there not being any food police. If we had more food police we'd have less contaminated food. Industrialization of the food supply has greatly increased the spread of pathogens in the food supply, but the producers have the power to keep regulators and inspectors from forcing them to take any responsibility for their practices; the industry's attitude is that it's the responsibility of you, the consumer, to watch out for yourself. Which means that state health departments don't have much choice but to hassle, you, the consumer, because they haven't got the funds or the political backing to push it back up the production chain.

[Drumma Chef]

it is often required by the health services but you have to alert the public to the possible dangers of eating potentially hazardous foods that have not been cooked to the coorrect temperature.  while most of the time nothing happens, there is that one time where you might have contaminated meat/poultry...and if you cook it to the correct temp then the contamination would be killed.  but if it is cooked to midrare for example it has not reached the temp to kill it and could make you sick...it is there to alert you so that you cant go back and say that they made you sick because they told you that you were eating a food that could possibly, very rarely make you sick.  this is what i have recently learned in servsafe, a sanitation course.

[dcarch]

Since there is no definition as to what is rare, medium rare, well done, etc.

 

I proposed that all restaurants must acquire equipment to record internal temperature of each dish, and each dish must be accompanied with a print out of the cooking temperature for the patrons to review and sign off before consumption .

 

dcarch

[gfweb]

At least then you could prove to the frigging kitchen that the steak was overcooked.