IF you’re planning to round off the summer holidays with a bank holiday barbecue this weekend, Chichester District Council (CDC) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have some advice to help make it a success.

With gourmet burgers in restaurants becoming increasingly popular, some people may be tempted to serve their guests burgers that are pink in the middle. Steaks can be served rare because any contamination on the surface of the meat is destroyed when the steak is seared on the outside.

But burgers are made of minced meat, so any bacteria on the outside of the whole piece of meat are mixed up throughout burgers when the meat is minced. If bacteria are mixed into the middle of the burger and it isn’t cooked all the way through, the bacteria can survive and cause food poisoning. Always thoroughly cook a burger all the way through.

This bank holiday weekend, rain or shine, the FSA is reminding everybody to:cook burgers so they are steaming hot all the way through, no matter how good quality or expensive the meat;check that none of it is pink and that any juices run clear; and avoid cross contamination by storing raw meat separately before cooking, using different utensils, plates and chopping boards for raw and cooked food.

Roger Barrow, CDC’s member for environment, said: “Anyone in the family could get food poisoning, or even worse – a life threatening illness through serving a less than well-cooked burger at your barbecue this weekend.

“Children, elderly and poorly people are especially at risk. If you want your barbecue to be remembered for the right reasons, make sure you follow the FSA’s advice on cooking burgers.”

Find out more about the FSA’s top tips at www. food.gov.uk/burgers