Be Aware of These Foods as They Can Cause Food Poisoning
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every single year, food poisoning affects around 76 million people all over the world. – about 5,000 of these people die. This means that your odds of succumbing to food poisoning are pretty slim, but you’re still going to have a pretty rough time.
There are many different causes of food poisoning, such as bacteria, toxins, and chemicals. However, some foods have a higher possibility of making you sick than others. This is because these particular foods are more at risk of bacterial growth than others. Therefore, if they aren’t cooked to a certain temperature or aren’t handled or stored properly, there’s a good chance that they will make you sick.
A food-borne illness can take days or weeks to develop, so it can be tricky to find the cause of the sickness. What can help though, is knowing which foods you should be extra careful with when handling, storing, and cooking. So, read on to learn which foods are more likely to give you food poisoning, along with some tips on how best to limit your risk.
Leafy Greens
Since leafy greens and vegetables are often
eaten raw, any harmful contaminants on them won’t be killed in the
cooking process. Bacteria such as E. coli can live in the soil that
leafy greens grow in, and can easily contaminate them. Furthermore, wild
animals can also transfer harmful substances to the food at any time
during their growth.
Washing leafy greens and vegetables not only reduces the risk of harmful
bacteria being present, but also any chemical pesticides that might be
on the food. Therefore, you should always make sure to wash leafy greens
and vegetables before consuming them.
Raw Milk
Outside of a farm, you won’t encounter raw milk too often, but we
strongly recommend you not to drink any if you’re offered. Raw milk is
milk that hasn’t been pasteurized, meaning it hasn’t been heated to kill
any harmful bacteria. The risk with drinking raw milk is that there’s a
higher chance of the milk containing E. coli, listeria, or salmonella.
If consumed, these dangerous bacteria can cause a range of food
poisoning illness that can be life threatening.
Eggs
Eggs are a convenient, versatile, and
nutritious protein and are eaten by countless people all around the
world. However, when it comes to food poisoning, they’re considered
high-risk, especially when raw or under-cooked.
Bacteria can contaminate either the yolk,
the white, or the egg shell. Often a contaminated egg will not look,
taste, or smell any different, making it almost impossible to detect.
Many popular meals contain lightly cooked (or even raw) eggs, so have a
high risk of causing food-borne illness. It’s recommended that you
thoroughly cook all foods that contain eggs, and avoid foods that
contain undercooked eggs, such as salad dressings and mayonnaise.
To enjoy eggs safely, it’s recommended that you buy clean, uncracked
eggs. You should keep them refrigerated at under 5 degrees Celsius.
Furthermore, when cracking the egg, make sure that the egg yolk or white
doesn’t touch the outside of the shell before going in the dish.
These recommendations are very important for vulnerable people such as
young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and anyone suffering from
an illness that weakens the immune system.
Cheese
Staphylococcus aureus is a common bacterium
that can be found on cheese. It is often transferred to the cheese when
an infected person handles it. The bacteria have a high tolerance for
salt, so cheese is an ideal breeding ground for it. Furthermore,
Staphylococcus aureus is heat resistant, so cooking does not kill it.
The best way to stop cheese from being contaminated with this dangerous
bacteria is it store it at under 5 degrees Celsius, wash your hands
before handling cheese, and make sure that all surfaces, utensils, and
equipment that the cheese touches have been thoroughly sanitized.
Sprouts
Sprouts grow in warm and wet environments
which are perfect for rapid bacteria growth. This means that they are
extremely difficult to keep clean. Since sprouts are usually eaten raw,
they carry a really high risk of causing foodborne illness, especially
from salmonella and E. coli.
If contaminated, it’s very likely that the seeds of the sprouts are
where the harmful bacteria will be found. Although there are different
ways to reduce the risk of contamination, no treatment is guaranteed to
kill all of the bacteria.
Therefore, people who are vulnerable to effects of the potential
bacteria – the elderly, pregnant women, children, and people with
weakened immune systems – are instructed to stay away from sprouts. If
you decide to eat them, it’s best to cook them first to reduce your risk
of contamination.
Poultry
Raw and undercooked poultry have an extremely high risk of causing food
poisoning if it’s not handled properly. Campylobacter bacteria and
salmonella are two common contaminants of poultry, and even small
amounts can make people seriously ill. These bacteria often contaminate
raw meat when it’s first processed, and can survive up until they are
killed by high temperatures.
Although these bacteria live on raw poultry, there are some ways to
lower your risk of contracting them. You should always make sure that
poultry is cooked all the way through before you eat it, as this will
kill harmful bacteria. Furthermore. You should not wash raw chicken
before cooking it as this will just spread the bacteria around your
kitchen, make it easier to contaminate something else. When handling raw
poultry, it’s very important to wash and sanitize anything that the raw
meat touches – including clothes, chopping boards, utensils, and
especially your hands.
Deli Meats
Deli meats and cold-cut meats are often
highly processed and include hot dogs, ham, bacon, and salami. The
storage of deli meats is very important as they’re often not cooked
before being consumed.
Listeria and other dangerous bacteria can find its way into the
processing factory and contaminate meats after they have been cooked and
before they have been packaged. This is why it is really important to
heat bacon and hot dogs to at least 75 degrees Celsius for at least 3
minutes before consuming. Furthermore, cold meats should always be
stored below 5 degrees Celsius to reduce the risk of further bacterial
growth.
All meats carry a high-risk of causing food-related illnesses if they
are not prepared and stored properly. Many people prefer their red meat
not to be cooked thoroughly through, but this can mean that the number
of bacteria is not brought down to a safe level. Those who are
susceptible to illness are advised to ensure that all their meats are
thoroughly cooked – this includes young children, pregnant women, and
the elderly.
Rice
Rice, one of the most widely consumed foods on the planet, is a
high-risk food when it comes to food poisoning. It can often be
contaminated with bacillus cereus, which can infect and live in uncooked
rice as spores. Rather than getting rid of the spores, cooking actually
activates them, and moist cooked rice is the perfect breeding ground
for harmful bacteria. Not storing cooked rice properly is one of the
biggest culprits of food-borne illnesses in the world.
Seafood
When it comes down to food poisoning from
seafood there are many different illnesses. It all depends on the type
of seafood, whether it has been contaminated with a toxin, bacteria, or
other harmful substances, and the conditions that the fish has been kept
in.
Fish which has not been stored at the
correct temperature has a very high-risk of being contaminated with
histamine – a toxin that can cause Scombroid poisoning and cannot be
destroyed by normal cooking temperatures.
Shellfish can also cause food poisoning as the algae that the shellfish
live on, produce toxins that can build up to dangerous levels. The more
common foodborne illnesses that these toxins can cause include
neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, paralytic shellfish poisoning, and
amnestic shellfish poisoning. Cooking the shellfish will not reduce the
toxicity to safe levels, so it is advised to avoid eating seafood in
developing countries.
Fruits
Surprisingly, lots of raw fruits and berries have a high-risk of causing
food poisoning. Listeria can grow on the skin of fruits and vegetables
and can cause food poisoning if eaten.
Melons also have a high-risk of causing food poisoning as they’re often
not washed before being eaten. Harmful bacteria can easily be spread
between fruit during the supply chain process. The environments that
these foods grow is a major factor for their high-risk status. They’re
often grown in warm, humid conditions, which are perfect for bacteria to
breed. Thoroughly washing your fruit and vegetables and storing them at
a proper temperature before consumption will decrease your risk.
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