5 Healthy Food Habits You Need To Avoid Being Poisoned

Last Updated on January 7, 2021

Poultry is not just chicken, turkey and duck are also often contaminated with Campylobacter. So, you should treat them exactly as you would chicken. Foodborne illness often comes from improper preparation/thawing of meats.

Favorably, infection is usually self-controlling, which means people recover over time. But this infections’ low harm is why the bacteria are not a priority to remove from the food chain, unlike salmonella which chickens are now all vaccinated against in the UK.

The best way to avoid infection is to wash your hands when handling poultry, keep away from contaminating surfaces, and make sure that the meat is thoroughly cooked. Notably, avoid any risk of raw meat entering your body.

3. Learn the perils of minced meats

It is recommended to step away from your burger if there are any doubts about its cooked status. Minced meat can be a great source of infection and are inherently riskier.

The dangerous aspect lies in the grinding together of meat along with the surface bacteria mixing deep into it, unlike with steak which is an intact piece of meat because any contamination will be just on the surface.

Cooking a steak very well, especially on the outside, reduces your chances of infection, even if remains a bit raw inside. As for ground meat, the outside is mixed with all the meat, which eventually contaminates the rest.

Your favorite burger, with uncontrolled heat, can result in a high risk of making you infected since it is being cooked only on the outside while staying raw inside.

The best solution, if you’re a burger lover, is to make sure you eat your burgers well-done and reject any meat that’s not cooked thoroughly.

2. Don’t forget to wash your fruits

Don’t blame it only on meat and poultry, fruits and vegetables aren’t that safe either.

According to a 2013 study by the CDC, 46% of foodborne illnesses in the United States are caused by vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Leafy veggies were shown to cause the most illness for 22% of all cases in the study, mainly because bacteria, such as E.coli, can live within the leaf tissue.