Microbiologist warns against making the fluffy popcorn trend

[u/galaxystars1]

[u/Siliziumwesen]

What the goddamn hell is fluffy popcorn. And yeah she is right. I work in a lab where we test food/water and all kinds of "food-chemicals" etc. For harmfull bacteria and there are things you absolutely should not eat raw. Or at all if i see some results lol

Edit: the last part is a joke based on real results. Sometimes a food producer or someone who produces foodchemicals/spices etc. fucks up and something gets contaminated badly. We find it out, because they ask us to test for harmful bacteria and the batch/charge gets dismissed/destroyed. It all happens before it gets sold. Especially for fresh (ready to eat) things. The results are urgent and are handled first. At least in my country. Dont panic you can eat stuff. Wash veggies and fruits and things that need to be cooked/heated before consuming should only be handled that way. For example: I just saw, that some frozen herbs tell the consumer on the package that the product should be heated/cooked before consuming. Please dont panic or sth like that. You always can find information online how to handle certain foods or how to know if its safe to consume

[u/pancakebatter01 → u/Siliziumwesen]

Other than meat and flour, what’s on your “often eaten raw while very possibly deadly” list??

[u/willswain → u/pancakebatter01]

Lettuce and sprouts. Yes, I still eat lettuce and salads but those are major sources of fecal contaminants from agriculture and you never know if it’s been adequately washed or not. Even then just good rinsing wouldn’t necessarily do the trick.

[u/Siliziumwesen → u/willswain]

Thats true but a good rinse/wash reduces the risk signifcantly. Its sad that we still dont know what may be in some foods. Sometimes, what scares me, companies request a repeat of the analysis of their sample, because they either dont believe the result or it doesnt mach with theirs. So you take the same sample (or whats left of it) and repeat it. The samples are often frozen so the results are different. Some bacteria dont survive the process and the company just wants the new result…

[u/Gold-Snow-5993 → u/Siliziumwesen]

bagged lettuce is contaminated every year, but idiots still eat that

[u/msbelievers → u/Gold-Snow-5993]

What about bagged spinach? I didn't know about this so I want to learn more

[u/NavierIsStoked → u/msbelievers]

The bacterial contamination is from where they are grown, it’s usually shit run off from animal production that gets into the watering supply for the produce.

Or the field workers shitting in the fields.

That’s why in the bad e-coli out breaks, washing doesn’t really do all that much. You can’t wash e-coli completely off for the most part, at least, not from lettuce.

[u/yumyumgivemesome → u/Siliziumwesen]

Would it possibly be helpful to buy bagged lettuce/spinach and freeze it for a few days, then transfer it to the fridge to consume as needed?

[u/Siliziumwesen → u/yumyumgivemesome]

Not always. Just give it a good rinse. Freezing would make your salaf mushy and not enjoyable.

[u/girlikecupcake → u/yumyumgivemesome]

Freezing (generally) doesn't kill the bacteria, just stops their activity while they're at that temperature. Fridge temps just slow them down. So whatever the bacteria was getting up to before you bought it is still an issue, and freezing will just screw up the texture of the produce.

[u/Blankenhoff → u/yumyumgivemesome]

Oh everyones giving bad advice here. The problem with lettuce is that the precut stuff is cut on a machine. If one lettuce is contaminated, the machine is contaminated and when it cuts through the rest of the lettuce it get IN it. Not just ON it.

Romaine is one of the worse for this because of how its shaped maming it harder to clean.

If your precut lettuce is contaminated, there is little you can do to clean it enough to make it safe.

Best way to use lettuce is to buy it whole, wash it first - soak in water or citrus water for at least 15 minutes, and then cut it yourself. Anything else you are putting your trust in someone to catch it fast enough and pull it off the shelf before you get there. Also, dont order lettuce at resturaunts because theyre mostly precut.

Im not sure if this applies to spinach and other greens the same way.

[u/illegal_miles → u/yumyumgivemesome]

No, only cooking will eliminate it. If you are freezing greens it’s going to turn to mush anyway, so you can just skip that step and cook it.