7. Undercooked Pork
The risk of trichinellosis infection from pork in the United States is very low, but that doesn’t mean we should let our guard down. Better management of pork feed and products has reduced infection in U.S. pigs, yet danger still lurks in certain sources. People get trichinosis when they eat raw or undercooked meat infected with larvae of a trichinella roundworm parasite.
Here’s the thing: Pigs raised or killed on non-commercial farms may be infected, and wild animal meat is the source of most trichinellosis in the U.S. The CDC estimates around ten thousand cases of trichinosis occur worldwide every year, though cases in the United States averaged around twenty per year by 2010. Cook pork to an internal temperature of one hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit at the center, using a meat thermometer to ensure it’s cooked well enough.
6. Raw or Rare Ground Beef
In November 2024, fifteen case patients were identified in one state with illness onset dates ranging from early to mid-November, all linked to contaminated ground beef. Wolverine Packing Co. recalled approximately one hundred sixty seven thousand pounds of ground beef products potentially contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The danger with ground beef is that bacteria on the surface gets mixed throughout when meat is ground, meaning undercooked burgers can harbor pathogens deep inside.
E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium causing dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps within two to eight days after exposure, and while most people recover within a week, some develop hemolytic uremic syndrome. This kidney failure condition is most common in children under five years old and older adults. The only way to confirm ground beef is cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria is to use a food thermometer measuring an internal temperature of one hundred sixty degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Raw or Undercooked Eggs
Eggs can be a source of food poisoning when consumed raw or undercooked because they can carry Salmonella bacteria, which can contaminate both the eggshell and the inside of the egg. I know raw cookie dough tastes amazing, but honestly, the risk might not be worth it. Each year Salmonella-contaminated eggs cause about seventy nine thousand cases of food poisoning and thirty deaths, according to the FDA.
Since 1990, improvements have been made in egg processing and production, leading to fewer Salmonella outbreaks, which is good news for breakfast lovers everywhere. Where possible, choose pasteurized eggs in recipes that call for raw or lightly cooked eggs. Let’s be real, that Caesar salad dressing made with raw egg yolks might look fancy, but it comes with inherent risks.
4. Leafy Greens and Raw Vegetables
Vegetables and leafy greens are a common source of food poisoning, especially when eaten raw, with lettuce, spinach, cabbage, celery and tomatoes causing numerous foodborne illness outbreaks. You wouldn’t think salad could be dangerous, right? Vegetables and leafy greens can become contaminated with harmful bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria across various stages of the supply chain.
Contamination can occur from unclean water and dirty runoff leaching into soil where fruits and vegetables are grown, or from dirty processing equipment and unhygienic food preparation practices. Leafy greens are especially risky because they are often consumed raw. Washing your produce thoroughly helps, though it can’t eliminate all bacteria if contamination occurred during growing or processing.
3. Undercooked Chicken and Poultry
CDC estimates that Salmonella causes more foodborne illnesses than any other bacteria, chicken is a major source of these illnesses, and every year about one million people in the United States get sick from eating contaminated poultry. That’s a staggering number when you think about it. When cooked, chicken can be nutritious, but raw chicken can be contaminated with Campylobacter, Salmonella, or Clostridium perfringens germs, and eating undercooked chicken can cause food poisoning.
Research from the UK, US and Ireland found that roughly forty one to eighty four percent of raw chicken sold in supermarkets was contaminated with Campylobacter bacteria and around four to five percent was contaminated with Salmonella. Using data from 2023, nearly all of the Salmonella illnesses were attributed to a small fraction of products with high contamination levels above one colony forming unit per gram. Use a food thermometer to make sure chicken is cooked to a safe internal temperature of one hundred sixty five degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Raw Oysters and Shellfish
In the United States, around one hundred fifty to two hundred Vibrio vulnificus infections are reported to CDC annually, approximately twenty percent of which are fatal. The CDC estimates there are around one hundred fifty to two hundred Vibrio vulnificus infections in the United States annually, and twenty percent of those who are exposed to the bacteria die, often in just a matter of days. Vibriosis causes an estimated eighty thousand illnesses and about one hundred deaths in the U.S. every year, with about fifty two thousand of these caused by eating contaminated food, including oysters.
During July through August 2023, public health officials in three eastern U.S. states were notified of Vibrio vulnificus infections associated with exposure to coastal waters and seafood, most of which were severe and led to septic shock or death. Out of eleven cases, four patients developed septic shock and five patients died. People become infected with Vibrio vulnificus by exposing an open wound to contaminated saltwater or brackish water, or by eating raw or undercooked seafood, especially oysters. The CDC says Vibrio infections have increased eightfold over the past fifty years, likely due to warming coastal waters from climate change.
1. Raw or Undercooked Wild Game Meat
People who eat raw or undercooked pork or wild game, particularly bear, wild boar, wildcat, fox, wolf, seal, or walrus are at risk of getting trichinellosis, and even tasting small amounts of such meat while raw or undercooked puts you at risk for infection with Trichinella worms. A trichinosis surveillance conducted between 1997 and 2001 showed a higher percentage of cases caused by consumption of wild game, representing the sylvatic transmission cycle.
Populations at the highest risk are those that consume undercooked or raw wild game meat or noncommercial sources of pork, and in the US, recent outbreaks have been associated with wild boar, bear, walrus, and unspecified pork. What makes wild game the most dangerous is that freezing wild game meats, unlike freezing pork products, may not effectively kill all worms because some worm species that infect wild game animals are freeze resistant. For pork, the recommended cooking temperature is one hundred sixty degrees Fahrenheit, while for game meat including deer, elk, moose, bear, bison, rabbit and beaver, the recommended temperature is one hundred sixty five degrees Fahrenheit.
The dangers lurking in undercooked food are real, and hospitalizations more than doubled from two hundred thirty in 2023 to four hundred eighty seven in 2024, and deaths also more than doubled from eight in 2023 to nineteen in 2024. The Federal government estimates there are about forty eight million cases of foodborne illness annually, sickening roughly one in six Americans each year, and these illnesses result in an estimated one hundred twenty eight thousand hospitalizations and three thousand deaths. The lesson? Always use a food thermometer, never assume food is done based on color alone, and when in doubt, cook it longer. What foods do you think should be avoided raw?
