Bill Marler[1], a lawyer who has has been representing victims of food-borne illnesses for the past 20 years, published his list on Bottom Line/Health[2] earlier this month. As a matter of fact, he has won more than $600 million for clients in foodborne-illness cases, Business Insider[3] reported. Though the official list of food items that may land you in a hospital is quite large, Marler, who is also a chief editor for the Food Poison Journal[4], managed to shrink it to its basics.
"If it's not cooked thoroughly to 160 degrees Fahrenheit throughout, it can cause poisoning by E. coli and salmonella and other bacterial illnesses", he said. In 2014, 19 people were hospitalized with salmonella poisoning due to bean sprouts.
"There have been too many outbreaks to not pay attention to the risk of sprout contamination", he said. "Those are products that I just don't eat at all". One food he said you don't have to avoid? He advises to purchase unwashed and uncut fruits and veggies that can feed you just three to four days and not more than that.
Common sense tells us, 'If it's triple washed, it must be safer.' Marler says that's not necessarily true. The convenience just isn't worth it, he argues.
"The reason ground products are more problematic and need to be cooked more thoroughly is that any bacteria that are on the surface of the meat can be ground inside of it", he says.
Do you generally face food poisoning after eating something not cooked at home? If it's not cooked all the way through there is danger of food poisoning by E. coli and salmonella. Marler says he won't go near them because there is no benefit big enough to take away the risk of drinking products that pasteurization can make safe.
"Oysters are filter feeders, so they pick up everything that's in the water", he says. "If there's bacteria in the water it'll get into their system", he says, adding, "if you eat it you could have trouble". I've seen a lot more of that over the last five years than I saw in the last 20 years.
Marler also says he won't eat meat that isn't well-done.
Raw shellfish or raw oysters: Marler cites oysters' filtering quality as the big reason he avoids this seafood. Marler says chances of getting food poisoning from eggs today is much lower than the 1980s or 90s, but he's still not risking it.
The fifth item on the list of hazardous foods is undercooked eggs, which can carry salmonella.
References
- ^ Bill Marler (www.marlerclark.com)
- ^ Bottom Line/Health (bottomlinehealth.com)
- ^ Business Insider (www.businessinsider.com)
- ^ Food Poison Journal (www.foodpoisonjournal.com)
