There may be no food more American than the burger. And according to meat lovers, there may be no health code regulation less American than North Carolina's rare and medium rare burger ban.
From Winston-Salem to Nags Head, meat eaters are unable to order their burgers rare or even medium rare thanks to a state restriction that requires restaurants to cook ground beef to an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's enough heat to sufficiently kill dangerous bacteria like E. coli, according to state health officials. But it's also enough heat to kill all of the flavor, according to Raleigh resident and rare burger aficionado Steven Elliot.
"I don't believe in a nanny state when it comes to food," said Elliot, who told AOL Weird News he would order his burgers "bloody" or "ready to moo" if he could.
"I don't like the government telling us what we can and cannot eat," he added.
Red meat eaters who prefer their meat, well, red, can still legally grill up their own rare burgers at home. But North Carolina's restaurants can't go a step below medium -- or medium well, according to some restaurants -- if they want to stay in the good graces of the state's Division of Environmental Health.
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