Monsters Inside Me : Menu Items Containing Parasites : Animal Planet

Menu Items Most Likely to Contain Parasites

By Robert Lamb, HowStuffWorks.com

HowStuffWorks

Would you pay $350 for a 134-pound cheeseburger? Chow down at HowStuffWorks.com.

2. PINK HAMBURGER OF DOOM

Granted, not all hamburgers are created equal. On one end of the spectrum, you have the discs of gray mystery meat grill-flipped by the hundreds at your local fast-food joint. On the other end, you have fancy gourmet burgers ground to order. Somewhere in between, summertime grill masters put the sizzle on some serious beef patties.

But if steak tartare is the classy method of consuming raw beef, then a rare, pink hamburger is generally considered the low-rent option for risking a bun full of E.coli, Listeria monocytogenes or salmonella. Undercooked hamburgers are a major risk factor for E.coli, with the number of outbreaks typically doubling during summer months.

Again, cleanliness and freshness are everything. While you might invite the prospect of a pink center in a $30 gourmet burger, you should send that pinkish fast-food burger back. In addition, a 2008 study published in the Annals of Diagnostic Pathology examined the contents of eight fast-food hamburgers and discovered Sarcocystis parasites in two of them. Unlike other parasites that might be lurking in a pink hamburger, Sarcocystis is usually asymptomatic.

Still hungry? Choose your next meal wisely:

5. Escargot Hungry for hot-buttered snails? Remember that a snail's diet can include parasite-rich fecal matter and carrion.		4. Sushi and Sashimi If you enjoy eating fresh, uncooked fish, just be prepared to eat whatever else has been living inside of it.
3. Steak Tartare What's this, more raw meat? Do you see a pattern forming here? Yes, even classy food can make you sick.		2. Pink Hamburger of Doom The low-rent option of consuming raw meat is, not surprisingly, even more likely to fill you full of parasites.
1. Ham and Pork Sandwiches Interestingly enough, one of the more statistically risky menu items isn't even raw. See what you might be signing up for when you eat pork.

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