I used to work a meat counter at a grocery store and I had a coworker who would sometimes just pop a piece of raw meat into his mouth and eat it. It tastes bad and your stomach might not like it (especially if you're not used to it) but it's relatively safe. Ground meat, however, is much bigger danger because now you're talking about meat that came from a bunch of different animals so the chances of it being contaminated are much higher. But even with steaks and such, you don't really know what's come in contact with what during the process of getting it to you, and it's assumed that you're going to cook it, so while the risk is low I'd still advise against it.
Lots of good info on this topic here. Long story short, raise the meat to a high enough temperature and all the germs die within seconds. Hold it at a lower temperature for a longer time to do the same.
I used to work a meat counter at a grocery store and I had a coworker who would sometimes just pop a piece of raw meat into his mouth and eat it. It tastes bad and your stomach might not like it (especially if you're not used to it) but it's relatively safe. Ground meat, however, is much bigger danger because now you're talking about meat that came from a bunch of different animals so the chances of it being contaminated are much higher. But even with steaks and such, you don't really know what's come in contact with what during the process of getting it to you, and it's assumed that you're going to cook it, so while the risk is low I'd still advise against it.
Lots of good info on this topic here. Long story short, raise the meat to a high enough temperature and all the germs die within seconds. Hold it at a lower temperature for a longer time to do the same.