Do you engage in "risky eating behaviors"?

4-03-2008 @3:03PM DD said... I once dated a guy who was a fiend for cookie dough. We would sometimes, in place of popcorn, make a small batch of cookie dough to munch on while watching a movie, and for those I would just leave out the egg.
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4-03-2008 @5:53PM MissHolidayGolightly said... Honestly, I think that paranoia about bacteria ruins our immune systems. My sister freaked out the last time she visited me because I didn't wash the underside of a big, wooden chopping block that I had cut chicken on. Then she warned me that I shouldn't save day-old rice for fried rice because it can grow bacteria. I am lazy about getting food in the refrigerator and sometimes I eat meat or cheese that's been sitting out for an afternoon. Maybe I'm disgusting, but I never have stomach problems.
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4-03-2008 @6:55PM Laura said... Well...there's a lot to say here. First off, the industrialization of agriculture in the U.S. has led to a lot of food safety problems. Salmonella in eggs, though still rare, used to be nonexistent until the crowded, unsanitary factory egg farms came into being. And e. coli has been around for a long time, but the strain that causes illness and death in humans didn't exist until around 1980--another product of factory farming. Read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan for more on industrial vs. organic vs. hunter-forager eating.

Sushi I wouldn't worry too much about. Most sushi fish is frozen for a few days before being served (sorry to disappoint everyone who thinks it's fresh off the boat) in part to reduce the risk of parasites. Anyway, you need to worry a lot more about parasites from undercooked or raw freshwater fish than from the saltwater fish sushi is made with.

Rare, even bloody steak is not generally a problem, because the bacteria resides on the outside layer of the meat, so searing it will kill the bacteria. Rare hamburger is another matter. The bacteria gets all mixed in to the inside of whatever you're making with it. I like my hamburgers rare, but the risk is too high these days, so medium it is. As for mad cow disease, cooking will not destroy the prion protein that causes it, so that's a risk you have to take when you eat any beef, especially brain, spinal cord tissue or ground meat.

Trichinosis in pork is all but eradicated in commercial pork in the U.S., so no worries with underdone pork anymore. Undercooked bear meat or wild game may cause problems though. Undercooked chicken may well be contaminated with salmonella, but as the thought of raw chicken disgusts me anyway, I don't worry too much about that.

Whew, I think that's all for now. Let me know if I left out your favorite "risky food."

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4-03-2008 @6:59PM Laura said... Oh, I forgot: many, many cases of foodborne illness come from poor sanitation habits rather than from inherently "risky" foods. When did that cook last wash his hands? Does he have some infectious disease? What was last cut on that board where your raw veggies are now being cut? Be careful out there in restaurant-land.
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4-03-2008 @11:15PM zenzele said... Who knows? Just like being in the presence of other people might just strengthen your immune system, eating "risky" foods once in awhile just might do the same thing. I've been eating raw cookie dough since junior high school, and I eat sushi all the time. Don't get me started about how much I love clams and oysters on the half shell. Haven't gotten sick once, so maybe all that "raw" food has done my body good.
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4-06-2008 @8:08PM Lorik said... If I drop my raw fish I pick the hair off and eat it. I eat my eggs ruuny and my pork pink and juicy, and my beef only slightly warmed.

I laugh at chronic hand sanitizers. Your immune system needs practice. Butch up, sissies.
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4-09-2008 @2:48PM Jim K said... I can remember when "risky eating" was just called eating. Tbe only thing risky was getting caught by mom as you sneaked a taste out of the bowl. Now I have to boil my fingers before I eat cheese!
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4-21-2008 @10:13PM kellykCANADA said... I personally think that this "big,bad bacteria" thing has got out of hand over the years. Im 37yrs old, Ive eaten cookie dough RAW!! for years. When I was a kid my mom always let me lick the bowl, and the beaters. A lot of it has to do with the immune system. You "BACTERIA" afraid people are the ones who get sick because you dont allow your bodies to digest small amounts of the bad bacteria at a time and then develop an immunity to them. You want to talk about food risk??? talk to my co-workers who laugh at me all the time because I am notorious for leaving my food on the counter at work (yogurt, etc...For a day max) Everyone else seems to get sick through the sick seasons....but us....HMMmmmmm.....ANTI-antibacterial AKA KellyKCANADA
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