Food safety - undercooked food being served

[Kake124]

I work in the NHS and our canteen serve beef burgers. Over the last 2 years, every time I buy one they are pink in the middle. They are sat under a warmer but I wouldn’t say they were hot at all, barely warm. I’m not sure if I’m being paranoid but in the UK shouldn’t burgers be cooked through do there are no pink bits? I’ve got a tummy ache now and I’m a bit worried. I won’t buy them again but I’m a bit annoyed about it.

Yes they should be cooked through with no pink bits

Is our beef massively different to French where a medium rare burger is a common sight?

Homemade or at good restaurants- burgers should be pink.

Mass catering or low end- fully cooked through.

It's to do with when the meat was minced, if freshly then its no different to pink steak. I'm guessing your canteen doesn't mince high quality beef on site daily- I would avoid in the future and maybe send an email to the kitchen.

Something about myoglobin/nitrates in ground meat. I'm no scientist and I can't remember why but it's common that ground meats often stay pink inside even when cooked through.

I would guess that burgers in a canteen are bought in cooked and frozen anyway.