Foods Most Likely to Make You Sick

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 6, 2009 1:43 PM CDT
Foods Most Likely to Make You Sick
This salad may look healthy, but leafy greens have caused more foodborne illness outbreaks than anything else.   (Shutterstock)

From spinach to peanut butter, consumers have weathered plenty of food scares recently. So the Center for Science in the Public Interest combed through CDC data to identify the foods most likely to harbor foodborne illness. Starting with the most dangerous:

  1. Leafy greens: Your salad could easily be coated in germs. It’s been responsible for 363 outbreaks, most frequently playing host to the pathogen norovirus.
  2. Eggs: Often infected with salmonella while still in the ovaries of otherwise healthy birds.

  1. Tuna: In addition to the well-known mercury issue, the fish decays quickly, releasing a toxin that cooking can’t eliminate.
  2. Oysters: Sometimes harvested from water contaminated with norovirus, raw oysters are frequent culprits.
  3. Potatoes: Involved in 108 outbreaks, but usually while in potato salad, possibly indicating cross-contamination from other ingredients.
  4. Cheese: Though cheese made with pasteurized milk is generally safe, Mexican cheese and soft cheeses like feta and brie are risky—especially for pregnant women.
For the rest, click the link below.
(More food stories.)

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