US Tourist "Flabbergasted" After Toronto Hilton Serves His Burger With "Release Form"

An American tourist visiting Toronto got the shock of his life after he ordered a burger from a restaurant and was asked to sign a waiver. The tourist posted about his unusual experience on Reddit and shared a photo of the meal and the release form that accompanied it. In the caption, he said that he ordered a medium-cooked hamburger at a Hilton hotel restaurant and the waiter served it without comment. However, as soon as he took the first bite of the meal, the server returned with a piece of paper and a pen. 

"I ordered my burger medium and the waiter took it with no question or comment," Redditor Reit007 wrote in the post captioned "Toronto burger came with a release form". "She brought it and it looked great! When I had my first bite she brought me a release form and said we always make our burgers well done, but since you wanted it medium now you should sign this!" the post read. 

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"I was flabbergasted. I read the release form and I think I can never have a burger," the American tourist said. The release form stated it would clear the hotel restaurant against any claims for damages related to any foodborne illnesses arising from the medium-cooked burger. He said that he refused to sign the form. "I tried to be nice so I paid and left but could not eat the burger," he wrote. 

In his post, the Redditor questioned whether the server should have mentioned something beforehand and wondered if this was a common practice in Canada. "I am from the US so I do not know. Is it common in Canada? Like how can you sign a form like his and still eat it? Why the waiter did not say anything before hand? I still can not believe it!" he wrote. 

Notably, according to the Ontario Food Safety Guide, ground meat must be cooked to a temperature of 71 degrees Celsius for at least 15 seconds to reduce the chance of bacterial survival. 

A Hilton spokesperson explained why the guest was given the waiver. As per the New York Post, the hotel said that they do waivers at that specific location, but it's not "standard practice" for Hiltons more broadly. 

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Meanwhile, the Reddit post was shared a few days ago and since then it has amassed more than 900 upvotes. In the comments section, while some users were shocked to learn about the waiver, others condemned the server for not properly communicating the issue of the waiver during the order and certainly not after the tourist took a bite. Some people were also surprised that the man was able to order a medium burger.

"I've never seen a restaurant actually have a waiver, and the waiter definitely should have mentioned it before leaving with your order," wrote one user. "I find it hard to believe this is real.  Which Hilton location did you experience this at?" commented another. 

"Burgers are generally cooked to well-done because ground beef has a generally higher chance of contamination," a third user explained. "I'm shocked they served you a medium burger at all. We generally don't do that in Canada. Americans asking how you'd like your burger done is always shocking in the USA," added a fourth. "It's a law in Ontario to prevent ecoli outbreaks, which seems to be working. It's still very frequent in the states," wrote another.