When you order a burger at the Hilton Toronto Airport they present you with a liability waiver to sign. The guest is asked to waive damages in the event of food-borne illnesses.
I ordered my burger medium and the waiter took it with no question or comment. She brought it and it looked great! When I had my first bite she brought me a release form and said we always make our burgers well done but since you wanted it medium now you should sign this! I was flabbergasted. I read the release form and I think I can never have a burger. I tried to be nice so I paid and left but could not eat the burger.
In fact, the actual waiver language appears to be for the guest providing their own food rather than consuming something provided by the hotel. (That really would incur liability for the hotel without a waiver?) So I’m not sure how this waiver actually protects the hotel. But it spooked the guest enough – asked to sign a waiver prior to eating their burger? It must be unsafe!
Posts from the toronto
community on Reddit
What actually seems to be going on here is that the guest ordered their burger medium, and Canadian health rules require burgers to be served medium well. And the waiver wasn’t actually written for this scenario because it doesn’t appear to be something that is optional and that a diner can waive.
It’s illegal to order a burger less than well done in most of Canada. The Canadian federal guideline is that a burger must be cooked to 71 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Fahrenheit). In contrast,
- Medium rare: 130 – 135 degrees
- Medium: 140 – 145 degrees
- Medium: well: 150 – 155 degrees
Canadians can eat raw oysters and day old cheap sushi. However 49 years ago there was a tainted meat scandal and these guidelines were adopted. Anthony Bourdain once write, “I believe I should be able to treat my hamburger like food, not like infectious…medical waste.”
This is insane. Imagine doing this to something other than McDonalds-quality beef. By law. Strictly speaking food safety rules are devolved to lower levels of government, but provinces and localities generally follow this federal standard.
A nice medium burger with your $28 Priority Pass credit from Bobby Van’s at New York JFK’s American Airlines terminal 8? That would be illegal in Toronto.
A medium rare or medium burger in the American Airlines Miami or Dallas – Fort Worth Flagship First Dining rooms? This would be illegal for Air Canada to offer in their Toronto or Vancouver Signature Suite.
Yet this Tomahawk Steak in the Vancouver Signature Suite, no problem! Ground meat may be subject to different risks, but millions of people eat it every day without getting sick. Update for avoidance of doubt, while the risk of ground beef is theoretically much greater in practice with millions of people eating medium rare burgers every day without ill effects the real world safety profile isn’t much different.
And I enjoyed seared foie gras in Air Canada’s Toronto Signature Suite, providing that as crazy as those Canucks may be they’re still one up on California.
And proving that insanity isn’t limited to Canada and California, South Carolina actually has a law requiring burgers to be served on the high end of medium (155 degrees), however food regulations were never updated to match this law which was passed 18 years ago, and the law also allows people 18 years old or older to waive the requirement. So a waiver, while not appropriate at the Toronto airport, would work at the Charleston one.
(HT: One Mile at a Time)
I’m not sure why you’re making an issue of a medium rare steak vs a hamburger. The steak is much, much safer than an undercooked burger, because the contaminants are on the outside of the meat, so if you cook the outside you’re fine, regardless of how well the inside is cooked.
The problem with hamburgers is that since it is minced into a patty before cooking, the entire burger contains the outside of the meat, so you have to cook it all the way through.
Of course, “not safe” is really up to everyone’s friends own risk tolerance and perception. These days the lettuce on the burger is far more likely to cause issues.
Or driving to work.
-friends. An edit function would be really handy. (I know, you don’t believe in editing.)
This form of stupidity will become more prevalent as society becomes more litigious. Don’t be surprised if the next time you purchase a bag of peanuts if you have to sign a waiver because of the possibility of a peanut allergy and having a scumbag lawyer wanting to sue the seller (and a scumbag judge/jury of morons ruling for the defendant) of the peanuts if one gets sick from eating the peanuts. This type of stupidity could apply to anything one could/would purchase.
The Canadian law is ridiculous but @Gary so is your comparison of ground beef to steak. Surely you don’t believe a steak cooked medium-rare presents the same risk as ground beef cooked medium-rare? The sad part is your story is cheapened with this comparison whereas without it the story is a good one.
Thank you, socialist governments of the world, for protecting me from my own choices. Freedom is dangerous, we can’t let people get used to doing what they want while hurting nobody else.
@Gary – agree with @Christpher. There is a huge difference in a steak (which I typically order medium) and a hamburger (which Ibonly eat well done as everyone should). If you were aware of how hamburger is ground and potential additive plus touch points I am shocked a germaphobe like you doesn’t want it well done. You can get much sicker from an undercooked burger than you can from a medium (or even rare) steak. Canada has this correct – IS FDA should follow their lead.
BTW Tony Bourdain was an opinionated, blowhard, opinionated addict. He was also a real ahole. Frankly the world is a better place without him spewing off his opinions.
Well, at least he got his medium burger even if he had to sign a waiver — or make it look as if he were eating his own food.
I was flatly refused anything less that a well-done burger at an airport hotel in Vancouver. I was pretty put out. I don’t remember if I ordered anything else.
I despise a Nanny State anywhere; it’s pretty bad in England, but not this bad. Mind you — one doesn’t want to fall ill in England or Canada where they have the NHS in the former, and MAID in the latter. IMO, effectively the same thing. And no, I’m not joking.
Mind you, on the wider view of food safety I no longer buy beef at COSTCO. It is all blade-tenderized, not exactly a risk free practice. n.b. COSTCO’s labels say cook the beef as hot as Canadians have to cook their burgers.
I would have refused to sign after the taking of one bite. She should have had the waver signed before handing over the food. In fact, the waver should have been signed when she took the order. If she took away the hamburger, fine. I would not pay for it or leave a tip even if I ate other food. Canada is a foreign country and foreign countries can sometimes have strange laws and customs. I can understand about contamination concerns at restaurants because some restaurants don’t handle food correctly. That is one of the reasons I prefer food carts in Thailand as I can see the process of handling and cooking the food. At home using store bought fresh ground beef or factory packaged ground beef that has been appropriately cooled, I cook hamburgers very rare, rare, medium rare and medium, depending on my mood. I have never got sick from them.
And in the civilized world we have beef tartare
@controller1 “Surely you don’t believe a steak cooked medium-rare presents the same risk as ground beef cooked medium-rare? ” I literally wrote that it is not the same, but given the low actual risk from medium rare burgers in practice the difference isn’t as big as most would suggest in terms of actual health.
The Canadian administrator who codified this rule went on two vacations to India and Mexico , and ate from the roadside food carts . Both times he was down for the count in the aircraft lavs .
For all those vexed by obscure safety regulations: Promise me a million times that you’ll never do another rule.
@woofie, I guess that’s why the life expectancy in the US is 79.1, while in Canada, it is 81.3 and in the UK, it is 81.5, because of the superiority of the US medical system.
There are restaurants here in the states that won’t serve a burger that’s not well done.
@David.. There is a peanut company that has printed on its bag of peanuts that’s labeled peanuts… Warning: contains nuts.
@farnorthtrader: The US medical system is far superior than the Canadian or UK system at moving people’s money to corporate interests.
Generally in the US, you are only given an option of how well you’d like your burger prepared at a restaurant that grinds their own meat, which greatly minimizes the risk.
For example at Red Robin a common burger chain, if you order their “gourmet” burgers which are fresh ground you’ll get that option. If you order their “tavern double” line of burgers, those are pre-ground frozen patties, so you won’t.
Arturo S. – Apparently I wasn’t clear – I know that the peanut company has this type of printed warning, I was referring to the grocery/convenience store that would retail the peanuts.
@Wolfie and @farnorthtrader … I choose private doctors who are long of tooth and gray of hair , with keen vision and steady hand . My problems usually come from staff who speak too fast , and refuse to give me my well-deserved glass of champagne .
Canada has strict laws like this due to a number of different e. coli outbreaks in the past. E. coli, especially the kind that makes people sick, is a very serious problem that I don’t think many people understand. Here in the US, prevention is done behind the scenes. Companies dealing with food shipping and delivery take a lot of precautions to ensure that food isn’t cross contaminated, kept at safe temperatures, etc.
While signing a waiver might be a bit extreme, I think it’s probably in Hilton’s best interest to do this. The last thing any company wants is to be sued for someone getting sick and/or spreading it.
Your statement that you cannot order a burger less than well done is not totally correct. The law allows restaurants that ground their own burgers to serve them less than well done. Also I do not believe this all of Canada but only Ontario.
Things that leffy is unqualified to talk about for 100 please Pat.
I am Canadian and support this law. Sorry the meat needs to be properly cooked, especially minced meat. Glad they have a waiver in place because if you get sick eating undercooked minced meat that you requested it’s your fault and the hotel or restaurant shouldn’t be responsible for someone choosing to get sick. It’s not uncommon these types of waivers for various things.
The grief I get at the Al Safwa first class lounge in Doha when I order a rare steak!
@farnorthtrader, who writes “I guess that’s why the life expectancy in the US is 79.1, while in Canada, it is 81.3 and in the UK, it is 81.5, because of the superiority of the US medical system.”
Correct. If the US medical system were not superior, life expectancy would be 75, not 79.1.
The US has to deal with more obesity, more gun deaths, and more violence. However, if you have metastatic breast cancer in British Columbia (Canada), you are banned from getting the drug, Ibrance. BC is too cheap to pay for it and you cannot buy it privately because BC bans private health care. See the CBC News story of outrage…. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/a-tale-of-2-friends-with-breast-cancer-1-has-coverage-for-costly-drug-the-other-forced-to-pay-1.4495123 (2 friends have breast cancer, one can get the proper treatment of Ibrance because she works for an American company and has US health insurance.
You ate ethical foie gras or the disgustingly produced one?
Why do North Americans put up with third world food supplies?
Oh, and this kind of waiver is exactly what happens with deregulation!! US companies are salivating at the opportunity to do more of these if the administration flips in November!
I think you have a TYPO:
The Canadian federal “guidelie” is that a burger must be………
@farnorthtrader
US life expectancy would be even less were it not for America’s superior potential in its health care system. It’s lower than some countries because of obesity and violence.
Paxlovid pills for Covid is available here but banned in Canada except for very old people in order to save money. Ibrance for metastatic breast cancer is not available unless you have US insurance, a story done by CBC News on TV.
—-
What would you do if you hotel made you sign a statement warning of the risk of murder, slip and fall, robbery, burglary, scalding?
If they served a burger in violation of public health / food safety laws does the waiver then really matter?
Ugh all the delicious looking food pics making me hungry, good thing it’s almost lunchtime and not midnight.
Fascinating story, given what I just read I’m actually surprised it doesn’t happen more often.
On a separate note I can finally say I’ve been to a hotel mentioned on the site! Solid hotel, enjoyed my 3 day stay in one of my favorite cities in the world. Didn’t eat at the restaurant though or else maybe I could have passed along the info for the story! For multiday stays I almost always get a burger at some point — missed opportunites.
We shouldn’t be taking culinary guidance from a nation whose favorite restaurant is Tim Hortons.
Lovely! Now we have a collection of Infection Control experts.
Thank the courts and bureaucrats who have made the highly unlikely a priority in our every day life.
We still have to be taught how to put on a seat belt on every flight. This crap never goes away.
Maybe if Boeing taught their employees how to torque a bolt.
sammons – So true.
I had this happen at a place in Doolin in Ireland. They said burgers must be well done according to Irish law. It wasn’t very good.
@Derek, So more obesity and more violence explains the maternal mortality rate of 9.8/100,000 births in the UK, 11 in Canada and 21 in the US (all 2020, US went up to and infant mortality rates of 4.2, 5, and 6.3 respectively. Stupid babies shooting themselves just because they are fat!
The US medical system is awesome as long as you have the money to pay for the best of it.
Yes, the Canadian provinces make decisions about which treatments they will pay for based on cost and efficacy (if a treatment is 10% better than the established alternative but costs a hundred times as much, it likely won’t be covered). US medical insurance companies make decisions based on cost and, well, just based on cost.
I have lived in both with private medical insurance in the US and the US system, for those that cannot pay cash, is substantially inferior.
I am not saying that violence and obesity aren’t having an effect on life expectancy (they definitely are), but you can use pretty much any statistical comparison of international medical systems and the US comes out the worst of any advanced economy while spending massively more on the system despite having a broadly younger population.
Bulk shampoo dispensers should be cooked well-done to kill all the sperm, amiright?
Credit – I agree, but check with Canada – they have all the answers….
I was in Calgary last June for my men’s cooking group’s international gala. I went to the great looking burger joint across the street from my hotel. I wanted a hamburger, medium rare… OH but wait…the LAW requires the hamburger cooked well done! Same thing in London. The restaurants take a perfectly good piece of meat and ruin it! I could have sailed it like a Frisbee! As if I’m not smart enough to know what I want. Something similar occurred at a Longhorn Steak in Atlanta. I wanted the chopped steak medium to medium rare…”Sorry, we only cook it well done.” “Well then, if you only cook it to well done, then I’m not eating here! I paid for my beer and left. Signing a waiver…what BS! Most restaurants in the States put a disclaimer…”Eating raw or undercooked meat/seafood, etc…..” can cause illness. YOU HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED! If you didn’t read the note at the bottom of the menu…dumb ass!
Dude you can absolutely order it however you like if the restaurant grinds their own meat. What a stupid sensationalist shitty piece of journalism. You’re shocked the Hilton Toronto airport doesn’t grind their own meat? The law is meant to protect you, get over yourself.
This is why everyone should be required to take basic undergrad microbiology 101. A simple lab test clearly shows why you need to thoroughly cook ground meat.
A medium well burger, while not my favourite, would be fine, as long as its not dry. It’s just the fact that most restaurants use that as an excuse to leave the burger on the grill and forget about it using the ‘the law says we can’t serve it medium’.
The law in question only states that in Ontario they must cook ground beef to well done *IF* the meat is ground off-site (or I believe pre-ground). If it is ground on site same day, then they can cook to temperature.
You can find a real medium burger in the province.
Blake – Perfectly said and 100% correct.
Christopher Raehl: I was going to comment the same thing. I eat my steaks medium rare. But burgers? Medium well every time. I’ve been inside too many meat plants. Lol