Food-borne illnesses affect millions of Americans each year with sickness and sometimes even death; so being aware of what you consume should be a top priority (think recent Chipotle incident). Bill Marler is the most prominent food-safety lawyer in the US and he recommended 6 foods that he avoids at all cost, so we listened up and took some notes:
1. Unpasteurized (“raw”) milk and packaged juices.
Unpasteurized milk, sometimes called “raw” milk, can be contaminated with bacteria, viruses and parasites. Between 1998 and 2011, there were 148 food poisoning outbreaks linked to raw milk and raw milk products in the US—and keep in mind that comparatively few people in the country ever consume these products, so 148 outbreaks is nothing to ignore
2. Raw sprouts.
Uncooked and lightly cooked sprouts have been linked to more than 30 bacterial outbreaks (mostly ofsalmonella and E. coli) in the US since mid-1990s. As recently as 2014, salmonella from bean sprouts sent 19 people to the hospital.
3. Meat that isn’t well-done.
Marler orders his burgers well-done. “The reason ground products are more problematic and need to be cooked more thoroughly is that any bacteria that’s on the surface of the meat can be ground inside of it,” Marler says. “If it’s not cooked thoroughly to 160°F throughout, it can cause poisoning by E. coli and salmonella and other bacterial illnesses.”
4. Prewashed or precut fruits and vegetables.
“I avoid these like the plague,” Marler says. Why? The more a food is handled and processed, the more likely it is to become tainted
5. Raw or undercooked eggs.
You may remember the salmonella epidemic of the 1980s and early ’90s that was linked mainly to eggs. If you swore off raw eggs back then, you might as well stick with it. The most recent salmonella outbreak from eggs, in 2010, caused roughly 2,000 reported cases of illness.
6. Raw oysters and other raw shellfish.
Marler says that raw shellfish—especially oysters—have been causing more foodborne illness lately. He links this to warming waters, which produce more microbial growth.
Read more from the original source here:
Source: Bill Marler, managing partner, Marler Clark, Seattle. Mr. Marler is a prominent foodborne-illness lawyer and a major force in food policy in the US and around the world. For the last 20 years, he has represented victims of nearly every large foodborne illness outbreak in the US. MarlerClark.com