Consumer safety articles often report how something seemingly innocuous will actually kill you, or at the very least, leave you maimed and crippled. In deference to this great modern media tradition, here’s my hysteria-inducing list:
1. Cookie dough (and anything else containing raw eggs): In addition to the risk of E. coli discussed in the article, eating egg-containing dough prior to baking it puts you at risk for Salmonella.
2. Fish: Sushi, sashimi, and ceviche can carry multiple parasites. My favorite is Diphyllobothrium latum, an intestinal tapeworm transmitted by freshwater fish such as salmon, which can grow 30 feet long and live 20 years.
3. Sprouts: Alfalfa, bean, and other sprouts carry Salmonella, E. coli, and Bacillus bacteria due to the warm, humid environments in which they’re grown. Washing the surface of the sprouts does not eliminate the chance of illness, as the bacteria can live internally. Raw sprouts are not recommended for children, the elderly, or people with weakened immune systems.
4. Beef and pork: Avoiding raw meat is a no-brainer, until you see it on the menu with an appetizing name like tartare or carpaccio. There’s a long list of diseases you could get from raw meat, so I’ll mention only one: neurocysticercosis, a parasite from undercooked pork that crawls from your intestine up to your brain, where it can live for years and cause seizures.
…and finally, no “Everybody Panic!” list is complete without at least one way you might inadvertently kill your child:
5. Honey: Honey contains bacterial spores that cause botulism, a disease that’s usually fatal if untreated. While adults and children have high stomach acid levels that kill the spores in honey, infants do not. Children less than a year old should not eat honey.
dont worry I wont,but I do like steaks kinda medium
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Not cookie dough?!! I would rather die eating cookie dough than eat no cookie dough at all!!!! The rest you can have.
Just realised the last comment sounded like I want you to eat the rest of the death inducing list. I didn’t mean that, just that I wasn’t sad to give those things a miss. Good. On to the next post!
Don’t eat fish raw, really? Sushi is good. Japan has the longest average life expectancy rate in the world, and Japanese eat tons of sushi…
shit. i’m going to die, i ate sushi yesterday….
What a bunch of nonsense….
I could go for a chirashi bowl right now. F that list.
Infi, I’m sure you can agree that you like eating SOME sushi
not if it has a fish smell dear
if it has a fish smell its not fresh.
and I like my steaks medium rare that aint changin because of what “they” say
I thought it was 3 years old for honey. I know we dont keep any around for this reason. My twin boys are less then a year old.
I am all about a two pound ribeye charcoaled medium rare with a lot of carcinogens. Ha – I laugh at consequences.
One of the best things about making cakes is ‘cleaning’ the bowl. If the cake mix (or cookie dough) is bad enough to kill you then surely your cakes or cookies will taste like arse.
I can see the wisdom of all of these except the first one. Make it with fresh ingredients and you can’t go wrong. Besides, the whole eggs=death thing has been disproven of late – ask Edwina Currie.
In my mind I’ve concluded that they mean “store bought” cookie dough. (You don’t really know how long the eggs were marinating in the cookie mix before your brought it home). Using fresh eggs at home shouldn’t be a problem – whether its spinach salad dressing, egg nog, or cookie dough. (At least that’s how I justify eating raw cookie dough, and cake dough… and bread dough.. …..mmmm!!)
I like my steak well done, and I hate sushi.
Jeez Richard, my exact favorite. As infi would say, DROOL.
Bella – I knew I could count on you to know what is good…
brownie batter ftw. So good, it’s worth the risk of salmonella.
I checked out the link from whence you got this:
Gregg A. Miller – Doesn’t have ANY letters behind his name but has a picture of him in a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck.
If I dressed like that, could I tell people that you couldn’t eat one of God’s creations, like honey, raw and people would believe me?
Hey! That’s a good idea; I’ll get a picture of me like that. Then start my own website & say stupid things like that.
Maybe I could even figure a way to get paid for it at the same time. Whatd’ya think?
BTW – I like my steaks MEDIUM RAW!
Guilty of all but number 4.