I’m a meals scientist… these are the issues I’d NEVER eat

A food scientist has revealed the foods she would ‘never’ touch – due to their high-risk nature.

The expert, who posts under username @hydroxide, shared the three foods she would never eat as they pose significant threat to one’s health.

‘Number one, is raw sprouts,’ the food scientist explained in a TikTok video.

Although the expert admitted she will ‘occasionally’ eat them, she noted they are a ‘very, very’ high risk food.

‘Something you have to know about foodborne bacteria is they are like your besties on spring break,’ she explained.

‘They want to go somewhere hot and moist and they are thirsty. So, sprouts are basically grown in the ground in the warmest, most moist, humid, wet environment you could imagine,’ 

‘And guess what? Bacteria loves it,’ she continued. 

The expert says unless you are blanching or cooking the sprouts ‘into submission,’ the sprouts you would usually eat – for example the ones that come with raw with Pho – shouldn’t be consumed. ‘I do not touch those,’ she said.

The expert, who posts under username @hydroxide, shared the three foods she would never eat, as they pose significant threat to one’s health

The food expert then added that it’s important to remember that when handling ‘high risk’ food, all the moisture that’s carrying the bacteria could get on your kitchen supplies.

Another food the scientist avoids is a beef burger cooked on the raw or rare side.

‘I will usually order a burger well done,’ she shared. 

The reason for this, the expert explained, is because of the way the meat is prepared and cooked.

‘Mechanically tenderized beef is chopped up with some big old spikes,’ she told viewers. ‘If there’s a little piece of meat down there that has E.coli on it, or salmonella – whatever it is – you are basically taking that and distributing it everywhere in that ground meat.

‘It’s specifically ground beef because turkey and ground chicken you have to cook to 165F because it’s poultry,’ she explained. 

The third food the expert won’t eat is raw oysters. 

‘The hot girl officially on the scene is norovirus, and one of the big outbreaks that just happened last month was at a very wealthy where a bunch of folks ate raw oysters and got norovirus,’ she recalled in a TikTok clip.

The food scientist would also recommend avoiding raw sprouts (stock image)

Another food the scientist avoids is any burger cooked on the raw or rare side (stock image) 

The scientist went on to share details of one of the ‘biggest’ outbreaks so far happened just last month, at a very wealthy party, where many partygoers ate raw oysters and got norovirus. 

‘The only food safety check that raw oysters have top go through is to check if the harvest waters that they’re from are safe to fish from,’ the expert explained.

She added that means that anything in the water – including excrement – could end up in the oysters.

According to FoodSafety.gov, eating raw or undercooked oysters that contain Vibrio bacteria can make you sick.

The expert explained anything in the water – including excrement – could end up in the oysters (stock image)

‘An oyster that contains Vibrio doesn’t look, smell, or taste different from any other oyster,’ the site noted. ‘Cooking oysters properly can kill Vibrio and other harmful germs.’

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service recommends washing hands and surfaces often, not cross-contaminate foods, cook the food to proper temperatures, checking with a food thermometer and refrigerate promptly to avoid getting sick.

Around 48 million Americans suffer foodborne illness every year. Some 128,000 end up in the hospital, while 3,000 die, according to the CDC. 

Examples of bacterial, parasitic and viral infections caused by food include salmonella, toxoplasma, listeria, and norovirus – as well as E.coli.

The most common is norovirus, affecting one in 15 people every year – although all infections can lead to serious illness and some can even be fatal.