Food-poisoning expert reveals 6 things he refuses to eat

pulse

June 8, 2017 9:31 PM

After spending more than 20 years fighting food-poisoning lawsuits, there are some foods that Bill Marler simply doesn't eat.

Raw oysters.

Having spent over 20 years working on food-poisoning lawsuits, Bill Marler simply doesn't eat certain foods anymore.

The attorney, who's litigating suits against Chipotle after the chain's E. coli and norovirus outbreaks, was cited in an article by Health Insider from BottomLine outlining what foods he has cut from his diet.

Having won more than $600 million for clients in foodborne-illness cases, Marler says his experiences convinced him that these foods aren't worth the risks.

Here are the foods that this expert says scares him the most:

1. Raw oysters.

2. Precut or prewashed fruits and veggies.

3. Raw sprouts.

Sprout outbreaks are surprisingly common, with more than 30 bacterial outbreaks — primarily salmonella and E. coli — in the past two decades.

"There have been too many outbreaks to not pay attention to the risk of sprout contamination," Marler says. "Those are products that I just don't eat at all."

4. Rare meat.

Sorry, chefs

5. Uncooked eggs.

6. Unpasteurized milk and juices.

A growing movement is encouraging people to drink "raw" milk and juices, arguing that pasteurization depletes nutritional value. Marler says that pasteurization is not dangerous — but raw beverages can be, as skipping the safety step means an increased risk of contamination by bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

"There's no benefit big enough to take away the risk of drinking products that can be made safe by pasteurization," he says.

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