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In fairness, those are some very, very well-cooked burgers. FimiFlippin/Shutterstock

Poll: Do you always eat burgers 'well done'?

Give it to us straight. Be honest.

THERE HAS BEEN a health warning from Safefood to ask us to only eat well-cooked burgers. A survey showed that over half of respondents took a chance on eating burgers that were still at least pink in the middle in a restaurant.

Food poisoning is a serious business but does that fear influence how you order a burger?

How do you like yours (either out or at home):


Poll Results:

Well done to the max (6061)
Pink in the middle (2510)
I don't eat burgers (567)
Pinker again (234)

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    Mute Steve Miller
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:02 PM

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of pink in your burger if you are using premium quality mince in making the burger.

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    Mute Suzie Sunshine
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:08 PM

    @Steve Miller: not according to safefood Ireland …

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    Mute Dazz
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:09 PM

    @Steve Miller: It doesn’t matter what the quality of the beef is – if it has been exposed in a meat-processing environment and it’s not cooked thoroughly you risk getting the trots. You can sear the surface area of a steak and safely it it rare but any kind of mince is pretty much all surface area.

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    Mute Mary Murphy
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:52 PM

    @Dazz: Why is it that only Ireland and the UK have this issue. Everywhere else you can order a burger as you want it. Also sick and tired of the waiter saying the burger must be at least medium well …it’s the law. One particular occasion had to tell the wait ‘No it’s not the law, it’s that your chef doesn’t make the burgers himself and just buys them in. If he made them himself he would be sure of the contents, and at 19.50 for the burger I don’t expect a burger from a packet’

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    Mute fintolini
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:07 PM

    @Mary Murphy: the big issue with any minced meat, is the bacteria is throughout the meat as it’s been minced, outside and in, that’s why it’s important to cook all burgers to well done to ensure all meet that potentially contains bacteria has been cooked and bacteria killed, otherwise you can’t be sure it’s safe to eat.

    Where as with steaks, the meat is not minced so only the outside of the meat needs to be cooked,bacteria will only be on the outside, the steak can be as pink as you like inside.

    It’s a health and safety issue, like many others all food establishments should be ensuring its implementation.
    If for example you became ill because of a burger not properly cooked, it’s their neck on the line and your health.

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    Mute Mary Murphy
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:18 PM

    @fintolini: Yes you are right in increases the risk. but with properly sourced meat and mince prepared in house a restaurant can serve it. Otherwise steak tartare would be banned! At 19.50 for a burger I would hope the chef is supplying meat from the best and safest sources.

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    Mute Mary Murphy
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:21 PM
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    Mute Wingmenuk
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:40 PM

    @Suzie Sunshine: safe food would rather you eat a lump of cardboard by he sounds of it

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    Mute Peter Cavey
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:55 PM

    @Steve Miller: I always thought that any meat that has touched the bone must be cooked well done. As you can’t guarantee this with mince meat, it’s better to cook it all well done. I’m probably wrong though.

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    Mute fintolini
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    Jul 10th 2017, 3:58 PM

    @Mary Murphy: not sure how convincing that article is. If businesses in NI choose to cook burgers pink, they have to register the fact they are doing this and also put warnings on menu’s etc for customers. Also mentions under no circumstances do they recommend anyone cooking burgers at home, to do anything other than cook all the way through.
    There are several steps along the chain to ensure the mince meat is protected from bacteria / germs, I wouldn’t trust that its impossible for any of those steps to fail, simple human error and its broken down. I’m glad Republic of Ireland health and safety have taken the approach that only way to be safe, cook right through regardless.

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    Mute Eoin Kiely
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    Jul 10th 2017, 4:37 PM

    @Peter Cavey: do you cook your T-bone steaks well done so? Poor fella…

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    Mute Mary Murphy
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    Jul 10th 2017, 4:41 PM

    @fintolini: steak tartare to be banned? I want the choice to eat my meat how I like it and if the restaurant can be sure of how the meat is handled it is no problem. How does every country on the continent do it? Why are we nanny stated to death? Nobody is forcing you to eat meat any way than well done if that’s what you want…why not give me the choice to have the meat how I want it?

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    Mute fintolini
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    Jul 10th 2017, 5:09 PM

    @Mary Murphy: I don’t think it’s a case of limiting choice because of how you prefer it, it’s preventing people from getting sick from under cooked food. My point is there are 4-5 different steps in the chain from farm to plate, different business, people. No guarantees.
    Best way to be sure, cook right through.
    Someone gets ill, at the least they will feel ill, worse they may have a lot more to worry about, they may also sue the business involved, which can lead to closed businesses, lost jobs etc.

    Any minced meat, burgers, steak tartare, all face the same issue.

    Last point, personally I wouldn’t choose other countries on the continent over Ireland for Health and safety standards, but that’s my own personal choice I guess.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Jul 10th 2017, 6:20 PM

    @Mary Murphy: because we live at a time when people will sue if they bite their tongue while eating in a restaurant let alone if they get food poisoning because they demanded a raw burger

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    Mute alan scott
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    Jul 10th 2017, 8:30 PM

    @Steve Miller: I agree with you mate

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    Mute Mary Murphy
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    Jul 10th 2017, 11:18 PM

    @fintolini: i am sick and tired of rules and regulations governing my life. Let me take risks…why do we have to be regulated to death. At the same time people need to take responsibility for their actions…but the authorities take away our control and offer us a safety net for everything.

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    Mute George McCarthy
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    Jul 10th 2017, 12:58 PM

    It’s total madness eating pink burgers. Uncooked meath can be lethal….demand a burger by saying “no pink well done”.

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    Mute Mike Power
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:04 PM

    @George McCarthy: How do you cook Meath? Bomb it or something?

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    Mute George Beckett
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:06 PM

    @Mike Power: maybe he meant meth…and it’s going to his head

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    Mute David Stapleton
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:21 PM

    @Mike Power: Obviously he was referring to the average sun light that Meath dwellers are exposed to. Too little and they become crazed…

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    Mute brendan o'connor
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    Jul 11th 2017, 5:13 AM

    @Mike Power: it’s a royal with cheese. Make sure there’s no pink bits now.heaven forbid!

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    Mute Shane Doherty
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    Jul 10th 2017, 12:53 PM

    @Chris Kirk:… Or sausages :)

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    Mute Harry Whitehead
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    Jul 10th 2017, 12:55 PM

    @Shane Doherty: I know! Genuinely couldn’t tell if that post was honest or a pisstake.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Jul 10th 2017, 12:50 PM

    Hardly ever eat burgers, we eat proper meat only or sausages..

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    Mute Philip King
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    Jul 10th 2017, 12:56 PM

    @Chris Kirk: burgers are “proper meat” it’s just mince.

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    Mute Ger Byrne
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:25 PM

    @Chris Kirk: And what sort of cr-p is used in making sausages? Think of the image of the guy, in white wellies, scraping the floor with a big wide shovel and dumping it into the machine

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    Mute Bilbo Baggins
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:44 PM

    @Chris Kirk: hahaha

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    Mute Enda McCallion
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:06 PM

    @Chris Kirk: Long live sarcasm Chris. Great comment. Comment of the week IM.

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    Mute Wingmenuk
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:42 PM

    @Ger Byrne: still taste great yum

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    Mute Mark
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:50 PM

    Anyone who said anything other than fully cooked are taking their lives in their hands (literally). E.Coli 0157 is one of the most dangerous food borne pathogens out there and the risk is highest in red meats. It only takes as little as 10 to infect and possibly kill you. Look at the incident in Scotland in 1997!!!!

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Jul 10th 2017, 12:51 PM

    Haven’t eaten a burger in over 20 years

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    Mute Ciaran Peavoy
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:22 PM

    It’s less about the quality of the mince and more about the processing, there are more opportunities for it to become contaminated from butchering to processing to when it ends up in your fridge or restaurant. With stake if there is any bacteria on the surface it will
    be killed once it hits the pan. With mince the outsides go inside and out again so bacteria can be on the whole patty, that’s why it should always be fully cooked and no pink. It doesn’t have to be cremated but cooked enough that all the pong is gone

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    Mute Chemical Brothers
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:10 PM

    Use a meat thermometer an you won’t under cook or overcook your burger. Can be cooked above pasteurisation temp and still show pink and will be beautiful juicy burger

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    Mute Dazz
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    Jul 10th 2017, 12:53 PM

    Rare – I like being able to shit through the eye of a needle.

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    Mute Brendan Hughes
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:19 PM

    @Dazz: can you do that because you are a tight arse? Or is it some kind of magic

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    Mute Dazz
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    Jul 10th 2017, 3:07 PM

    @Brendan Hughes: Fluid dynamics.

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    Mute Ace
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:10 PM

    Always cooked through. Same with steak.

    I hate when I go on holiday and ask for a well done burger or steak. The bloody looks that you get. And they still come out red in the middle.

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    Mute The Guru
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:16 PM

    @Ace: the reason they look at you that way is because you’re a terrible person. Well done steak is a crime.

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    Mute some random guy
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:39 PM

    @Ace: fun fact if you as for rare steak they have to cook you quality beef if you ask for it well done they can take one that’s been in the freezer for yonks as you won’t be able to tell :)

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    Mute Wingmenuk
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:43 PM

    @Ace: chew on lump of cardboard instead

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    Mute qwerty
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    Jul 10th 2017, 8:08 PM

    @Ace: once you cook a steak well done you might as well eat a cardboard box.

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    Mute willypearson
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:10 PM

    Beef tartare?

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    Mute David Cullen
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    Jul 10th 2017, 3:29 PM

    typical Irish.
    well done meat.
    boiling hot cappuccino

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    Mute Sam Glynn
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    Jul 10th 2017, 2:55 PM

    Homemade burgers and homemade sausages mmmmmm mmmmmm

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    Mute Gordon Jono Power
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    Jul 10th 2017, 4:16 PM

    I know of 3 places chip shops that reheat the burgers for speed and laziness. There definitely well done and taste absolutely dreadful you’d spot it a mile away a bite out of a bit of lino floor covering in a bun would taste better.

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    Mute Rachel Didleu
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    Jul 10th 2017, 4:56 PM

    Apparentally there is a problem finding a bus to throw Tom Humphries under…weird…..

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    Mute qwerty
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    Jul 10th 2017, 7:20 PM

    The pinker the better. Medium rare equivalent in a steak. If your eating it any other way then the quality of mince is not worth eating! I’ve never had food poisoning.

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    Mute Jackson
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    Jul 11th 2017, 9:14 AM

    I had a bad stomach a while back there so went to the docs, one of the questions she asked was
    Have you eaten any rare meat or meat that’s a bit pink or any sushi lately?
    Have never eaten either and if I get steak in a restaurant that I ask to be cooked well done and it comes back pink I send it right back.
    Just goes to show my instincts on this have been right all along.

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    Mute Mark DeFriest
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    Jul 10th 2017, 12:48 PM

    I don’t eat burgers, burgers are full of fat and totally disgusting.

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    Mute Harry Whitehead
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    Jul 10th 2017, 12:57 PM

    @Mark DeFriest: Oooh no, not burgers! The horror, the horror!

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    Mute Eoin Mc Namara
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:00 PM

    @Mark DeFriest: what a stupid statement.

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    Mute Suzie Sunshine
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:09 PM

    @Mark DeFriest: not if you use good quality mince ..

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    Mute Eoghan Stynes
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:11 PM

    @Harry Whitehead: It’s unethical.

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    Mute Vincent
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    Jul 10th 2017, 1:36 PM

    @Mark DeFriest: make your own, simple and much leaner. 95% lean mince. Egg Yoke, chilli, blue cheese garlic and onion….

    Bought burgers I agree with you.

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    Mute Jim
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    Jul 10th 2017, 9:06 PM

    @Vincent: i break up cream crackers to dust and mix them in too, got the idea from a jamie oliver cookbook, and i prefer a bit of mozerella or feta in the middle, each to their own. But 100% agree, home made burgers all the way. :-)

    Also same recipe for meatballs with pasta *drool

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    Mute billy Dorney
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    Jul 10th 2017, 3:48 PM

    They marching,and out of the pan themselves

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    Mute Brendan Keegan
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    Jul 10th 2017, 6:39 PM

    Never touched a piece of meat in my entire life. Never had one day sick. Seventy and can run a mile in 5 +mins. It not the beer that is killing the Irish but the meat.

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    Mute qwerty
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    Jul 10th 2017, 7:21 PM

    @Brendan Keegan: but you’ve never tasted meat. I feel sorry for you ! Believe me there’s nothing better than a good steak and a bottle of wine !

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    Mute David Stapleton
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    Jul 12th 2017, 12:14 AM

    Just cut off its horns and wipe its ass…

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