Foods That Can Get People Sick
Posted: Friday, December 02, 2011
by Samantha Mendoza
Lifetime Fitness Nutrition
Foods that commonly get people sick
You feel spoiled, your stomach is a mess after some foods. How could you know what caused the damage? It could have been: the freshness status, the amount of moisture, the environment, even the condition of your immune system so, let's explore a little to catch up that "guilty" something!
Fresh is better! What needs to be hot, keep it hot, what needs to be cold, maintain it cold, what is raw, separate it, and the most obvious one: before manipulating anything, wash your hands and keep the kitchen clean, or... Eat in a place that looks clean and safe!
Meats and poultry
Ok, first thing, I don't want to scare you with this article but I do want you to give it a reflexive thought.
I remember when studying, we went once to make a microbial testing to the small food stalls outside some subway station at Mexico city. What an amazing an interesting research! I didn't really need a microscope to see all the "microbes circus" at the samples! Since then, I remind myself to avoid eating at those stalls.
You all know raw meats and poultry require special handling, adequate containers or packages for transportation and storage. But... For example, what are the conditions of the coolers where this foods are stored before being sold? They certainly have a high humidity environment just right for microbes to grow.
Ground meat or poultry is handled more than meats left whole and it offers more surface for microbial growth, that's why it is more recommended to cook it well-done rather than raw. Remember that meat turns brown when cooked, but that color comes before harmful bacterias become all dead, so let the steak or poultry reach a real well-done status.
Another recommendation is to read the labels of the packages. Meat and poultry must pass the specifications and requirements of the health department to be sold. There are companies that meet the requirements, use appropiate packaging and put the approval stamps on their containers. This are foods that you can trust more than those sold exposed to the air.
Seafood
If you are from Japan or another oriental contry, it is more usual to eat raw seafood. For those people who love the oriental kitchen just like me, eating these type of food, specially cooked in such way, can be of high risk.Offshore waters are highly polluted this days. Just in the US coasts, viruses that can cause disease have been detected in about 90% of the waters off the US coasts. Even though there are organisms that monitor the quality of what is being fished, sometimes unsafe foods reach the markets.
Seafood can carry organisms even more harmful than those of spoiled meat: viral hepatitis, worms, flukes and other parasites, and they can carry also certain toxins. There's a myth that freezing fish will make it safe to eat it raw, but that's not true. Only cooking can kill all worm eggs and microorganisms.
For my mexican partners, hot sauce is also useless against infectious agents. And for sushi lovers, remember that there are varieties made with cooked meat. Choose those instead of raw fish to lower your risks of becoming ill.
Eggs
Come to Mexico and not only you'll enjoy our hospitality, you'll also find a pretty rich gastronomy, and eggs are a very common ingredient for breakfast. But...No matter in which part of the world you are, watch for this:
In the last years, bacteria
As a precaution, keep eggs in the fridge until consumption, cook them until yolks are firm or they become well-done. It is no longer safe to add raw eggs into a beverage or a recipe which will not be cooked as is used for example in Caesar salad dressing.
If you suffer from any immune disfunction, avoid all non cooked or undercooked eggs, including the pasteurized egg substitutes.
Certain fruits and vegetables that could be dangerous
Fruits and vegetables unless well rinsed in cold running water and treated to remove organisms before peeling, chopping or eating, could be a threat.
There are fruits and vegetables that grow very close to the ground, and depending on the treatment to the soil, most of them could carry contaminants and toxics. For example those irrigated with contaminated water or highly treated with pesticides and herbicides.
Were the hands of the farm workers cleaned when the pick up happened?... How do you know?
I've just harvested a doubt right?
The rough skins of certain fruits and vegetables like melons provide crevices that could harbor bacteria, so... Wouldn't you consider brushing and rinsing with enough water before cutting them? Do that! And don't use detergents, soap or bleach solutions.
Be specially careful with strawberries, raspberries, and other berries, they need to be rinsed with water and treated before consumption. More precaucious you should be with sprouts including alfalfa, clover, and radish, these are only safe when cooked.
For last, do you like consuming "fresh juice" at your favorite restaurant or stall? Watch out if it is not pasteurized, specially if you have a compromised immune system.
Healthy foods
Food fundamentals
Lifetimefitnessnutrition Homepage
This Article has been viewed 299 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.