We often hear about opting healthy dietary habits, taking balanced diet, fibrous food, protein rich food (animal and plant sourced), and many related terms. Even such healthy food products can also get harmful in certain cases like if they are consumed unhygienically that is without proper washing or cleaning, taking undercooked or overcooked food, etc. These food items contain bacteria or other pathogens, especially in their natural or unprocessed/ uncooked form. Cooking the food helps in killing those bacteria and/or pathogens and thus prevents the diseases.
Micro-organisms present in uncooked food include bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria along with some viruses as well as parasites.
Food items that cause more harm than help to health if taken uncooked or undercooked are described below:
- Undercooked chicken contains Salmonella and Campylobacter which may cause severe stomach infections.
- Undercooked or raw eggs may contain Salmonella and it can be risky to take it as such.
- E. coli present in Ground Beef can cause severe illness if it remains undercooked.
- Undercooked kidney beans contain a toxin (phytohemagglutinin) that can cause severe stomach issues and vomiting. So, proper soaking and boiling of kidney beans must be done before eating them.
- Raw sprouts are highly susceptible to microbial contamination (bacteria: Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria) due to the moist conditions required for sprouting.
- Unpasteurized milk causes severe harm to the health as there can be highly pathogenic microbes such as Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria and Campylobacter present in it. Pasteurization (heat treatment) helps killing these microbes and thereby makes the milk safe to drink.
What other cases prevail in day-to-day life where food items being uncooked or undercooked have adverse effects on health?
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Link : 8 Foods You Should Never Eat Raw, According to Nutritionists
MBH/PS