Two customers at Blanc Brasserie, in Covent Garden, London, were left ill after eating pink lamb’s liver which was not cooked thoroughly enough, a court has been told.

The Telegraph reports the restaurant has now been banned from serving the dish, after failing to heed a warning from council environmental health officers, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.

The food had “presented an imminent risk of injury to health because the process of cooking”, the court was told.

Blanc Brasseries will now pay £3,103 in costs and have confirmed they will comply with the order, as a spokeswoman said they were unable to cook the liver to council standards without compromising on taste.

“Brasserie Bar Co has not contested the EHO enforcement and will no longer serve liver in any of its restaurants,” she said.

“In order to serve liver and comply with Westminster Council, it would need to be overcooked to such an extent that our customers just won’t eat it.”

Liver has now been removed from the menu of all Blanc Brasseries.

Try using a tip-sensitive digital thermometer; cooks won’t have to turn meats into hockey pucks to satisfy perceived demands and could actually use data to ensure safety.

But since the taxpayer-funded UK Food Standards Agency relies on color – and piping hot — rather than data, why would anyone else have to?