A food-poisoning expert reveals 5 things he never orders at restaurants — and it's not what you'd expect (diet, cheap)

[Suburban_Guy]

I eat a lot of salads and so far have been lucky.

What a food-poisoning expert never orders at restaurants - Business Insider

A deep knowledge of thousands of food poisoning cases across the US means that there are some things that Bill Marler just won't order when he goes out to eat.

With more than two decades working as a food poisoning advocate and attorney, there are simply some things that Marler has cut out of his diet. Marler has won more than $600 million for clients in foodborne-illness cases — and seen how restaurants are being forced to change to prevent more sicknesses.

[newtovenice]

A friend told me never to order fruit with drinks (lemons, limes, etc). They are usually right on the bar, uncovered and touched by a number of people before making it to your drink. He got really sick because of it.

[annabanana123]

Eh, it sounds really paranoid to me. I order most of those on a regular basis, especially salad, and have had food poisoning once from shrimp tacos. It’s a risk, sure, but the odds are really quite low of getting substantially sick off something.

[old fed]

yes, i'm sure if you ask your server where your food is sourced you'll get the information you seek

[Submariner]

I do not think there is any way to tell if a restaurant is buying pre-sliced lettuce.

[BruSan]

A trip to the Imperial Valley are surrounding Yuma Az. to watch how your produce is grown and packaged right in the field, would be a worthwhile eye-opener for most people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhw8odLFCw4

There are huge trailers designed as processing platforms where the all-Mexican workers receive the heads of lettuce, cabbages, rutabagas etc., and perform the necessary tasks of cleaning cutting and trimming to then put them in waxed cardboard flats in preparation for their final packaging and labelling all right out there in the field.

An attached trailer has the portable biffy and hand washing stations for those times the workers need to relieve themselves. Sanitary discipline could be what you might imagine. They're not supposed to resume work unless they wash their hands. They're not supposed to dump the porta-pottie tanks out in the fields or nearby irrigation canals. They're supposed to detergent power wash those trailers every night. They're supposed to.......etc., etc..

The workers arrive at their designated field in school buses from Mexico and pick-up points within the greater Yuma area to spend all day in the fields and you will see them all wearing face coverings to prevent the virus caused valley fever from stirred up sand while picking.

As an aside they commonly wear those cheap nitrile gloves while processing veggies and you can imagine our surprise to once find one of those gloves in a package of mixed greens we bought at a Publix Store in Florida.

It might say Product of USA on the package but a significant amount of your produce consumed in the U.S. originates in Mexico and is simply packaged in the USA, thereby making it eligible to be labelled thusly.

[LittleDolphin]

Got sick from eating lettuce twice -- once in the Grenadine Islands and once in Victoria, Canada. So far, not in the U.S.

Though I did get sick (food poisoning) from eating some raw egg meringue in my own kitchen.

[cebuan]

Would somebody please turn off their AdBlock and tell us what the five things are.

The only times I ever get sick from what I eat, is when I treat myself to a pretentious restaurant. The last time was min Harlingen, Texas. I've eaten in 150 countries, and it is my opinion that you are more likely to get sick from a doorknob, than from a salad.

[james777]

Originally Posted by cebuan

Would somebody please turn off their AdBlock and tell us what the five things are.

The only times I ever get sick from what I eat, is when I treat myself to a pretentious restaurant. The last time was min Harlingen, Texas. I've eaten in 150 countries, and it is my opinion that you are more likely to get sick from a doorknob, than from a salad.

I have to agree that you are more likely to get sick from a doorknob than a salad.


Here are the five things:


Salads
Your healthy choice is actually one of the riskier options on the menu at chain restaurants.

"I'd eat sushi before I ate a salad," Marler said. "I wouldn't eat it at a 7-11, but I've eaten sushi at a good sushi restaurant."

While cooking veggies and meat can kill germs, salads bring together a lot of raw foods that have had countless opportunities for contamination. Restaurants that buy pre-chopped lettuce from suppliers put themselves at even greater risk.

"Not every lettuce leaf in the field is contaminated E. coli, but some of them are," Marler said of the risks of pre-washed, bagged lettuce. "And when you mix and match it at a processing facility and chop it up, you get what you get."


Soft-serve ice cream
Cleanliness of ice and ice cream machines can cause huge problems when workers aren't following safety guidelines. There's a grossness factor of finding mold in soft-serve ice cream machines — but there are also real risks.

"There have been a number of cases linked to listeria, where listeria will get into the inner workings of these ice cream machines and kill people," Marler said.


Rare meat
Marler agrees with known-germaphobe President Trump on at least one thing: well-cooked meat is the way to go.

"Skip the medium hamburger and get it well done, and just add a little ketchup like the president," he said.

According to the expert, meat needs to be cooked to 160 degrees throughout to kill bacteria that could cause E. coli or salmonella.


Buffets
"I never eat a buffet," Marler said. "I'll order off the menu."

Buffets have a heightened risk of exposure to the lines of people who might touch or sneeze on food, contaminating the dish for anyone else. Then, there is the temperature issue, as dishes are better able to host bacteria when kept at room temperature.


Food shipped internationally
In general, Marler says people can best avoid food poisoning by simply eating food handled by as few people are possible and only eating at restaurants with strict food safety practices.

While chain restaurants tend to have strict safety policies, if they serve food from suppliers that got contaminated at some point along the supply chair, there is little they can do. And, those risks are exacerbated in the cases of food that is being imported from a significant geographical distance.

"You can get Hepatitis from scallops from the Philippines, but you probably shouldn't be eating scallops from the Philippines," Marler said. "You can get Hepatitis A from strawberries from Egypt, but you probably shouldn't be getting strawberries from Egypt."

[suzy_q2010]

If you will not eat salads at a restaurant then you should not eat salads at all. You could get the same contaminated greens at a grocery store.

A buffet that is busy will turn over product before it has been on the line too long. My favorite buffet uses kitchen timers so staff will know how long a specific item has been out. I like buffets because I can get a variety of foods, including some that I do not care to prepare myself.

Soft serve ice cream would have to be contaminated before the mix was placed in the machine. The machines need to be cleaned properly according to the manufacturer's directions.

I agree with not eating raw meat.

Foreign imports? I am not sure the author made a case for them being riskier.

Any food establishment should be regularly inspected to make sure it is handling food properly. I read the health inspection reports for our local restaurants.

Customers need to help, too. Do not go out to eat if you are sick. Do not let children help themselves at a buffet.

I think the author is biased by the cases he has seen. The absolute risk of getting a food borne illness requiring hospitalization or causing death in this country is pretty low, especially if you do not have an immune deficiency.