Physical Wellness

Three Things To Eat if You Love Food Poisoning

By Tabitha Shiflett | Update Date: Jun 15, 2017 09:31 PM EDT

Bill Marler is a food poisoning expert. Having spent more than 20 years working on food-poisoning lawsuits, Marler knows what's up when it comes to grub. In fact, he's the attorney who's litigating suits against Chipotle after the chain's E. coli outbreak.

In an interview published by Business Insider, Marler gave a little insight as to what you should and shouldn't eat.

Here's three foods that scare him the most:

Pre-cut & Pre-washed Fruits and Veggies

"I avoid these like the plague," Marler told Bottom Line. Why? Because the more contact food has with human hands (which probably haven't been washed, if we're going to be honest about it), the more likely it is to become contaminated.

"We've gotten so used to the convenience of mass-produced food-bagged salad and boxed salads and precut this and precut that," Marler added. "Convenience is great, but sometimes I think it isn't worth the risk."

Instead, Marler purchases his produce uncut and unwashed in small amounts, eating it within three to four days after purchase to reduce the risk of listeria bacteria deciding his weekend plans for him.

Rare Meat

While your meat may taste better rare or medium rare, Marler says he'd rather not take the chance -- particularly with hamburgers.

"The reason ground products are more problematic and need to be cooked more thoroughly is that any bacteria that's on the surface of the meat can be ground inside of it," Marler said. "If it's not cooked thoroughly to 160°F throughout, it can cause poisoning by E. coli and salmonella and other bacterial illnesses."

Raw Oysters and Other Shellfish

According to Marler, raw shellfish -- especially oysters -- have recently been causing a little bit of havoc in the food industry.

"Oysters are filter feeders, so they pick up everything that's in the water," Marler explained.

Take a moment to recall the things that are in ocean water. I'll wait.

"If there's bacteria in the water, it'll get into their system, and if you eat it you could have trouble. I've seen a lot more of that over the last five years than I saw in the last 20 years. It's simply not worth the risk."

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