Last week in London, I seriously offended my hosts by insisting that the pink beef burger they served my daughter from their BBQ was quite possibly not safe for her or anyone else to eat. The juicy fat and perfectly charred burger was made from the finest ground steak from their local trusted butcher, and so they insisted it was perfectly safe to eat. Safe, because it is safe to eat a rare steak. After a heated discussion (pun intended) they finally referred themselves to independently verifiable facts - found by using Google - and grudgingly, accepted that I was right. But not before ganging up on me for shamefully and ignorantly disparaging the reputation of the highly renowned neighbourhood barbecue "chef" - an Australian of New Zealand birthright who had never to his knowledge poisoned anyone with his wonderful "expert" BBQ cooking to date.
Despite their initial laughing-out-loud and angry fact-denial protests, I was right to tell them that not only are pink burgers unsafe (unless you first sear the outside of the steak before grinding it up), they are particularly unsafe for children and should never be served to them. Why is this a fact? Because the carcass of a slaughtered bull is often covered in its faeces, or that of other bulls (literally bullshit), and so it can get onto the meat. Bullshit contains E. coli, which is a lethal bacteria if ingested by humans.
Despite their initial laughing-out-loud and angry fact-denial protests, I was right to tell them that not only are pink burgers unsafe (unless you first sear the outside of the steak before grinding it up), they are particularly unsafe for children and should never be served to them. Why is this a fact? Because the carcass of a slaughtered bull is often covered in its faeces, or that of other bulls (literally bullshit), and so it can get onto the meat. Bullshit contains E. coli, which is a lethal bacteria if ingested by humans.
Pink burgers might be safe if the internal pink bit has reached 160 degrees throughout in the cooking process, but it's very hard for anyone to prove to you that it has. For all you know they made a mistake or they are "bullshitting" in the philosophical sense described by Harry H. Frankfurt . Where is the verifiable evidence, you need to ask.
In my opinion, when it comes to beef burgers, it is logically, rationally, better to stick with the veraciously potential life-saving guidance of the Hospitality Association on such things as pink beef.
Click the image below for ease of reading.
Later in the evening, my hosts turned the discussion to the difficulty I am having in getting the scientific and wider community to understand why it is important that we distinguish between truth and bullshit in the story of the discovery of evolution by natural selection.
People read my book, 'Nullius in Verba: Darwin's greatest secret' agree with the newly discovered bombshell evidence in it, but just can't be bothered to spend so much as 5 minutes of their precious time to write a review on Amazon to help spread the truth. Why, because apparently "who cares about the truth of such matters?" I was further informed: "The trouble with you is that you care too much about the truth."
(c) Andy Sutton (c) Mike Sutton. All Rights ReservedUsed only with express written permission
Second Edition of Nullius in Verba: Darwin's greatest secret
Analogously, understanding the real, as opposed to mythical, process by which all ground-breaking scientific discoveries are made may in the future improve scientific knowledge about how to increase the rate of making new life-saving discoveries in science. If we don’t realise this we don’t realise the lesson of the Bullshit Burger Parable: namely, bullshit literally kills!
I hope my hosts come to realise that the importance of knowing how to distinguish bullshit from truth has lifesaving consequences. I don't think they will be serving their own or anyone else's children pink burgers ever again. I hope not anyway. Where the truth is concerned it is important not to try to win any popularity contests, leave that to the bulshitters, because fear of being uncouth, deemed obnoxious or impolite might cost you your own life or that of a loved one.
The newly discovered facts in my book are as unwelcome as the socially impolite guest who questions the food hygiene of the dish served them by a beloved and proud host. And so I don't expect any thanks for conveying veracious information about dangerous bullshit in "trusted" burgers from renowned sources, and none have been forthcoming.
Rightfully, you should ask for the evidence that E. coli in undercooked burgers causes serious E. Coli food poisoning. Here is probably enough of it to spoil the day of any pro-pink burger flipper
- · http:
//community.seattletimes.nwsource.com /archive /?date=19930122&slug=1681248 - · http:
//www.mcspotlight.org /media /press /times_15sep96.html - · http:
//www.nbcwashington.com /news /health /DC-Va-Child-Dies-From-E-Coli-Infection-123358208.html - · https:
//www.upi.com /Health_News /2015 /12 /31 /10-notable-E-coli-outbreaks-at-US-fast-food-restaurants /5781451489618/ - · http:
//www.foodsafetynews.com /2015 /10 /undercooked-burgers-likely-caused-vt-e-coli-outbreak-yet-ground-beef-so-far-escapes-recall /#.WZhshih97IU - · http:
//www.mirror.co.uk /news /uk-news /you-shouldnt-order-medium-rare-7124070 - · https:
//www.food.gov.uk /science /microbiology /cooking-burgers-at-home
(C) Dr Mike Sutton. ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDUsed only with express written permission
The author's eight year old daughter understands the lifesaving difference between evidence and dangerous wishful thinking. Do you?
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