I’m a food scientist… these are the things I would NEVER eat

A food scientist has revealed the foods she would ‘never’ touch – because of their risky nature.

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

“Number one is raw sprouts,” says the food scientist explained in a TikTok video.

While the expert admitted that she will eat them “occasionally,” she noted that they are a “very, very” risky food.

“The thing you need to know about foodborne bacteria is that they are like your best friends on spring break,” she explained.

‘They want to go somewhere warm and humid and they are thirsty. So sprouts are actually grown in the ground in the warmest, most humid, humid and wet environment you can imagine.”

“And guess what? Bacteria love it,” she continued.

The expert says that unless you blanch or cook the sprouts “into submission,” the sprouts you would normally eat — for example, the sprouts that come raw with Pho — should not be consumed. “I’m not touching that,” she said.

The food expert then added that it’s important to remember that when handling ‘risky’ foods, all the moisture carrying the bacteria can end up on your kitchen utensils.

Another food the scientist avoids is a beef burger that has been cooked raw or raw.

“I usually order a well-done burger,” she said.

The reason for this, the expert explains, is the way the meat is prepared and cooked.

“Mechanically tender beef is chopped up with some big old spines,” 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’re basically taking that and spreading it all over that ground beef.

“It’s ground beef specifically because you have to cook turkey and chicken at 165F because they’re poultry,” she explained.

The third food that the expert does not eat is raw oysters.

“The pretty girl who is officially on the scene is norovirus, and one of the big outbreaks that happened last month happened in a very wealthy city, where a group of people ate raw oysters and contracted 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 that has been cooked raw or raw (stock image)

The scientist then shared details about one of the “largest” outbreaks to date, which happened last month, at a very lavish party, where many partygoers ate raw oysters and contracted norovirus.

“The only food safety check that raw oysters must undergo is checking that the harvest water they come from is safe for fishing,” the expert explains.

She added that this means anything in the water, including feces, can 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 that anything in the water – including feces – could end up in the oysters (stock image)

“An oyster containing Vibrio does not look, smell or taste any different from other oysters,” the site says. ‘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-contaminating food, cooking food to the right temperature, checking with a food thermometer and refrigerating immediately to avoid getting sick.

Approximately 48 million Americans suffer from foodborne illness each year. According to the CDC, about 128,000 people end up in the hospital, while 3,000 die.

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

The most common virus is norovirus, which affects one in fifteen people each year, although all infections can lead to serious illness and some can even be fatal.