All Videos for Foodborne Illness

Salmonella in Chicken & Turkey: Deadly but Not Illegal

Hundreds of thousands of Americans are Salmonella-poisoned by poultry every year—yet it remains legal to sell meat proven to be contaminated.



Foodborne Rabies

The consumption of cat and dog meat may be playing a role in “massive human rabies epidemics” in Asia. (Some people may find some of the concepts and images in this video disturbing.)



Reducing Cancer Risk in Meat-Eaters

Those who eat meat risk food poisoning from undercooked meat, but also exposure to cooked meat carcinogens in well-cooked meat. By boiling meat, non-vegetarians can mediate their risk of both.



Meat May Exceed Daily Allowance of Irony

The foreign meat molecule Neu5Gc may not only contribute to the progression of cancer and heart disease by supplying inflammation, but may also set children up for life-threatening reactions to E. coli toxins originating in the same animal products.



Yersinia in Pork

This week Consumer Reports released a study showing the majority of retail pork tested was contaminated with antibiotic-resistant strains of the foodborne bacteria Yersinia enterocolitica.



Gerson Therapy for Cancer

Gerson Therapy is a largely diet-based alternative treatment for cancer. What have 65 years of medical research concluded about its efficacy and safety?



Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Death in America is largely a foodborne illness. Focusing on studies published just over the last year in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals, Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse many of the top 15 killers in the United States.



Dead Meat Bacteria Endotoxemia

The high bacteria load in raw or cooked animal foods and fermented foods may trigger an endotoxemic surge of inflammation, which may be exacerbated by the presence of saturated animal fat.



The Exogenous Endotoxin Theory

The endotoxemia (bacterial toxins in the bloodstream) that follows a meal of animal products and results in inflammation and stiffened arteries may come from the food itself, rather than from one’s own gut bacteria.



Zero Tolerance to Acceptable Risk

The fish and poultry industries propose moving from a zero tolerance policy on certain dangerous foodborne pathogens to an “acceptable risk” policy—given how widely contaminated their products are with potentially deadly fecal bacteria.



Unsafe at Any Feed

In a national survey, fewer than half of the participants realized meat contaminated with fecal food-poisoning bacteria, such as Salmonella, can still legally be sold. Rather than producing safe products, the meat industry shifts the responsibility for safety onto the consumer.



Not So Delusional Parasitosis

Delusional parasitosis is a form of psychosis characterized by the false belief that one is infested with some sort of parasite. It can be triggered by a variety of brain diseases, including parasites themselves.



Maggot Meat Spray

Given their inherent resistance to food-poisoning bacteria, maggots can be used to create an antibacterial food additive to increase the safety of the meat supply.



Viral Meat Spray

Bacteria-eating viruses (bacteriophages) have been approved as meat additives to reduce the risk of Listeria and Campylobacter found in processed meat and poultry products, but there’s a concern they could spread toxin genes between bacteria.



Tongue Worm in Human Eye

A case report (and video) of the worm-like, bloodsucking parasite Linguatula serrata, found in organ meats, that can migrate through the intestinal wall, into the bloodstream, and then inside one’s eyeball.



Don’t Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

A profile of the study “Dirty Money: An Investigation into the Hygiene Status of Some of the World’s Currencies as Obtained from Food Outlets.” The level of fecal bacteria contamination on banknotes is compared between Australia, Burkina Faso (Africa), China, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States.



Hand Washing Compliance of Retail Deli Workers

How often do retail deli workers wash their hands, at both independent and chain stores? This is important, given the potential for life-threatening blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis C.



Red Fish, White Fish; Dark Fish, Atrial Fibrillation

The consumption of dark fish (such as salmon, swordfish, bluefish, mackerel, and sardines) may increase our risk of atrial fibrillation—an irregular heartbeat rhythm associated with stroke, dementia, heart failure, and a shortened lifespan.



A Fine Kettle of Fluoxetine

Excreted pharmaceutical drugs, such as Prozac, can end up polluting our waterways, and may bioaccumulate in fish flesh.



Amnesic Seafood Poisoning

There’s a rare toxin, called domoic acid, that can turn up in tuna and other seafood and cause anterograde amnesia, the loss of short-term memory popularized in the movie Memento.



Meat-Borne Infection Risk from Shopping Carts

Exposure to meat packaging in the supermarket may lead to food poisoning in children placed in shopping carts.



Food-Poisoning Bacteria Cross-Contamination

The food-poisoning fecal bacteria found in 70% of U.S. retail poultry is destroyed by proper cooking, but contamination of the kitchen environment may place consumers at risk.



Poultry and Paralysis

A neuropathic strain of the fecal bacteria Campylobacter, found in poultry, can trigger Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rapid and life-threatening paralysis.



Poultry Exposure and Neurological Disease

Poultry workers exhibit an excess of a wide range of diseases, from thyroid conditions to schizophrenia, and autoimmune neurological disorders, such as myasthenia gravis. This may be due to exposure to viruses present in chickens and turkeys.



Bacon & Botulism

The nitrite preservatives in processed meats such as bologna, bacon, ham, and hot dogs form carcinogenic nitrosamines, but also reduce the growth of botulism bacteria—forcing regulators to strike a balance between consumers risking cancer, or a deadly form of food poisoning.



Is Bacon Good or Is Spinach Bad?

If the nitrates in vegetables such as greens are health-promoting because they can be turned into nitrites, and then nitric oxide, inside our bodies, what about the nitrites added to cured meats—such as bacon, ham, and hot dogs?



MRSA in U.S. Retail Meat

More than a thousand retail meat samples have been tested for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination in North America.



Airborne MRSA

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus “superbug” found not only contaminating the U.S. retail meat supply, but isolated from air samples outside swine CAFOs.



U.S. Meat Supply Flying at Half Staph

An investigation finds 47% of U.S. retail meat tested is contaminated with staph (Staphylococcus) bacteria. Turkey appears most likely to harbor contagion.



Total Recall

Salmonella, the leading cause of food poisoning-related death, can survive most common egg cooking methods—including scrambled, over-easy, and sunny side up. Cross-contamination onto fingers, utensils, or kitchen surfaces may pose an additional threat.



Too Much Iodine Can Be as Bad as Too Little

Excessive intake of kelp (kombu) or thyroid-containing sausages can lead to iodine toxicity.



Avoiding Epilepsy Through Diet

Avoiding pork tapeworm parasites (cysticercosis) is not as easy as just avoiding pork.



Pork Tapeworms on the Brain

Neurocysticercosis, infection with pork tapeworm larvae brain parasites, is an increasingly serious public health problem in the United States, potentially causing headaches, dizziness, seizures, other neurological disorders, and sudden death.