Sydney’s chefs are reeling after yet another law is set to sterilise the city.

Lock-out laws that stymied drinking hours came first, and now burgers are being targeted as the NSW Food Authority has announced a crack down on pink patties, labelling them as a “food trend”.

Sydney’s burger culture has been super-sized in the last 24 months, with a slew of pop-ups and a never-ending stream of new outlets opening.

The city’s dedication to finding the best burg’ is fierce; just look at Facebook’s Fatties Burger Appreciation Society, a closed group of more than 57,000 members that debate the merits of Bar Luca’s Blame Canada versus ‘the Truffe’ from Mister Gee Burger truck. One thing they agree on? Patties should be medium-rare and juicy, just like a good steak.

The Daily Telegraph reports that council officers had approached the authority with concerns about the growing rate of burgers served medium-rare. A medium-rare patty is cooked to 55 degrees, but health officers now have the power to issue $1540 fines for patties that are below 71 degrees in temperature. Juices should run clear.

“Eating raw or undercooked patties is an emerging trend in Australia and therefore, no outbreaks of foodborne illness due to their consumption  have yet been recorded,” a fact sheet on NSW Food Authority’s website states.

“However, in the USA it has been a common practice for some time and has resulted in a number of outbreaks of E. coli and a total of five deaths since the first outbreak was recorded in the USA in 1993.”

So that’s five deaths, in 23 years, or one death every 4.6 years in a country of 318.9 million.

Dan Hong, executive chef of Mr Wong’s and Ms G’s, slammed the data as irrelevant to the Australian market and the crackdown as stupid.

“The facts are based on American figures, where the population eats three or four times the amount of burgers that Australia does. Also, the facts are based on mince and the handling of beef mince, which also includes products like tacos,” he said.

The statistics included an E. Coli breakout at American fast food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill, which doesn’t serve burgers, in which 21 people were hospitalised and 55 people infected.

Rather than a blanket ban, Hong suggests a certification system , where venues can apply to serve their burgers medium-rare, which could be regulated in a similar fashion to Halal or Kosher certifications.

“The restaurants or burger shops that want to serve their patties medium rare want to do it because they know how good the quality of the beef is – they take pride in serving their burgers below well done,” he said. “I’m pretty sure a restaurant or pub that knows they are serving low quality meat won’t serve it rare anyway.”

For now, though, does Hong think well-done burgers are the future?

“It’s possibly the new reality. Sydney is becoming the most boring city on earth.”

Unpredictably, meat enthusiast, head chef and owner of 4Fourteen and My Kitchen Rules judge Colin Fassnidge agrees.

“My kids love burgers with blood running down their arms – it’s flavour – otherwise it’s Starbucks-everything, everything will come in a box, sterile and tasteless,” he said.

He slammed the burger rules as flying in the face of common sense and said that, like the lock-out laws, it is an attack on consumer choices.

“You can buy as much alcohol as you want in Sydney, you should be able to get a medium burger. It’s common sense.”

He says the burger rules should apply only to “dodgy operators” and “the guy who poisons people”.

“And then there are the good operators – like us. If the place looks filthy don’t go in there. Don’t go to some hole in Chinatown to buy a burger. It’s going to get to the stage where you can’t have a rare steak. If you’re over 18 and a consenting adult, you should be able to choose.”

Fassnidge has been a loud spokesperson for Keep Sydney Open, a campaign against the lock-out laws he says will make the city sterile.

“In Melbourne you can open a bar in a shitty laneway and it becomes cool. Now they force you into casinos or precincts. The casino is the last place on earth I want to be. We’re losing personality and the vibe. The food scene is still good but the rent is higher so young guys can’t just set up,” he says.

In the heart of Surry Hills, Hamish Ingham runs Bar H, with plans to open Banksii in the city’s Barangaroo precinct later this year. He is concerned that the tightening of rules for hospitality venues is ruining the city’s international reputation.

“You can’t get a medium rare burger, you can’t go out for a drink. It’s ruining Sydney,” he said.

“It’s totally ridiculous. To be honest a medium rare hamburger is one of my favourite things in the world. I might move to Tassie.”

Italian expat and top chef Massimo Mele agrees with the sentiment.

“When friends visit from Europe, they usually go out at 11pm and you can’t even get a drink. It’s embarrassing, to be honest,” he said.

“As chefs, we can’t dictate what time we finish work, but now we’re dictated to as to whether we can go out. It’s a little disheartening. You’ve got to sneak around, so it’s kind of ruining the hospitality industry.”

For Mele, the new burger rule is the final nail in the coffin.

“There are so many car crash burgers already, big leaning towers of Pisa. We had continuous pop ups and now we have overcooked burgers? Let’s move on Sydney.”

Over in Bondi, Icebergs executive chef Monty Koludrovic isn’t against the lock-out laws per se but believes that the government needs to rethink how it deals with the hospitality industry in general.

“How [the government] deals with hospitality nationally and at a state level is a big issue. It’s culturally important we can express and develop in this area. It’s working with vendors on licensing, working with vendors on their unique situations,” he said.

“The blanket rules and lack of individuality is a problem. If there is an issue of drinking and violence, why don’t they attack businesses with dodgy operators rather than applying blanket rules?”

The same thinking extends to rules around how meat is cooked – not just burgers – as it stifles innovation and ignores problems lower down the food chain, such as animal production and storage.

“I’m serving pork tartare at an event – is that going to be a problem? I serve chicken to temperature and it’s pink. Does it have to be white and grainy? I’d like the food safety to go into animal production rather than how chefs cook it.”