Mark:

> In light of some recent reports I have read concernig salmonella in raw
> eggs, I would like to hear what people think about this issue.  Or, for
> that matter, any kind of bacteria in any kind of raw food.

Things to take in consideration about bacteria in raw food:

1) Cooking doesn't kill all bacteria. However, as bacteria are
   partially destroyed, cooking decreases the probability of being
   infected.

2) If your raw diet is balanced, then your immune system should work
   fairly well. But eating raw won't make you become invincible
   either.

3) Bacteria-contaminated foods often have an unpleasant smell. Never
   cook/prepare/eat any food that smells bad.

4) Bacterial contaminations are rarely fatal, except if your immune
   system is particularly weak. Most often, abdominal pain, vomiting
   and/or diarrhea are the usual symptoms.

5) Infections occur most of the time with animal foods (meat, seafood,
   eggs, dairy), although I have heard about unpasteurized fruit juice
   and alfafa sprouts contaminated with E. Coli. So, one is left with
   the dilemma of choosing between having an occasional infection (if
   you eat animal food) and risking deficiencies (if you don't).

6) Organic animal foods are less likely to be contaminated than
   non-organic ones, because animals are healthier and do not receive
   antibiotics for growth enhancement (antibiotics can promote growth
   of resistant bacteria and destroy competing harmless ones).

7) Foods that are canned, packaged, frozen, ground, etc. are more
   likely to be contaminated than fresh, whole ones.

8) Food is many, many times safer than cars. Deaths by road accidents
   are thousands of times more frequent than deaths by bacterial
   infection.

So, the picture is quite complicated. Personally, I have eaten over
300 kg of raw animal food (mostly meat, fish, seafood) without
infections so far. On the other hand, infections did happen to me
before going raw.

--Jean-Louis Tu <[log in to unmask]>