>How many people do you know that died from salmonella or Montezuma's
>revenge, for that matter. I don't think it is appropriate to flame
>someone on the list for their ideas.

I might be a candidate, I have gotten very sick on the Salmonella bugs and
do not want to repeat the experience.  I'm agettin' too old for
extracurricular microbiology.

In an attempt to reduce the flame, so to speak, I'd like to get completely
back on topic.  Uncooked meat.  There have been many posts here and on the
web on the pemmican kind of thing, and other non-cooking ways of
preservation of meats.  Good, but more interesting to me now is whether
meat can be eaten raw or very close to raw nowadays.  There have been, and
recently too, some very good posts on this subject, but this is a topic not
to be taken lightly in the doing of, so I am looking for more info.

In the last year or so I have seared meat quickly, reduced the flame,
cooked for too little time to my senses and experience, and eaten meat
rare, even raw in the middle and even still coldish.  This is on occasion,
not a regular thing yet.  With no problems so far.  But this not
comfortable for me with the current noise level of e. colii and other
little bacteriums.

So, this a support group so I ask a support question.  Are there more of
you out there with real live experience eatin' meat raw?  What are the real
risks (there are going to be a few for sure)?  If meat can be eaten raw, or
near raw, will this change the daily fare?  That is, will fewer carbs of
any kind be necessary, can one eat less fat, less 'calories?'  Same
questions about eating non-muscle meats raw or near raw.

Many on this list seem to me to have extra resources or extra abilities at
referencing scientific sources on the net.  Any help here, url's,
citations, will be much appreciated.

This thread seems a little too heated (maybe not) and, in part, a little
off-topic to me tho' I suppose all is in order.  Different viewpoints from
different positions, okay.  I too question the original post which makes
many claims such as

>  you eat raw meat, the salmonella bacteria have nothing to eat and you will
>  excrete them asymptomatically.

which I'd love to be true.  But I am not going to be the first on my block
to test this one out without reason.  As to the post quoted just above, if
it were labeled 'conjecture,' or presented with some backing, anecdotal or
preferably with citation, it would be acceptable to me; presented as fact,
uhm, I am going to try to find more info.

I intend to continue my own research, however any type of experience or
thought on eating any meat, raw or close to raw, esp. from this list, will
be welcomed by me.  So (I hate this TLA, but I must use it at least once
before I tackle the e.colii) TIA.

Thomas