Doctors warn on risks of uncooked food

London - British doctors advised people yesterday not to eat rare or uncooked hamburgers because of the risk of infection from…

London - British doctors advised people yesterday not to eat rare or uncooked hamburgers because of the risk of infection from the strain of E coli bacteria that causes a potentially deadly form of food poisoning.

Britain's Public Health Service Laboratories (PHSL), which monitors the control and prevention of infectious diseases, issued the warning after investigating more than 85 cases of E coli 0157 in England and Wales during a two-year study between 1994 and 1996.

It said restaurant diners should be prepared to send uncooked meat back.