Generally speaking, pathogenic bacteria can only cause illness when they grow in food to a sufficient number. As a rule of thumb, this number is roughly 100,000 bacteria/gram of food. Of course, persons with underdeveloped or compromised immune systems or low levels of stomach acid will undergo illness at lower levels of contamination. Most bacteria that colonize fresh meat are harmless 'spoilage' bacteria. Spoilage bacteria are hardier than pathogenic bacteria and hence help to outcompete pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, raw meat is said to "inspect itself" because of this phenomenon and is not considered a 'hazardous' food by health authorities [a hazardous food is defined as one capable of supporting the growth of pathogenic microorganisms]. Health authorities also assume that raw meat will be thoroughly cooked. Ground beef may be an exception to the "inspect itself" rule because the grinding process can widely distribute bacteria such as e. coli 0157:h7 throughout, where spoilage bacteria may be insufficient to outcompete the pathogens. Some pathogenic bacteria such as shigella, viruses, and parasites do not need to reach high levels in order to cause illness; a few may be enough. In fact, viruses and parasites do not grow in number in raw meat like bacteria do. Eating raw pork, bear, or bore presents a risk of infection from the parasite trichanella spiralis. After producing gastrointestinal effects, cysts of this parasite can migrate into joints and cause a painful arthritic-like condition. Pathogens arise from the intestinal tract of warm-blooded mammals. Pathogens normally die-off in the environment. Meat is essentially sterile tissue that can become contaminated from pathogens in the intestinal tract or feces of infected persons or animals. It is true that we are wrongly obsessed with disinfecting surfaces and using anti-bacterial soaps in our home. These disinfectants kill both the pathogenic and the harmless environmental bacteria that outcompete the pathogens. With the beneficial environmental bacteria out of the way, a few residual pathogens can quickly grow in number on the near sterile surfaces. Overuse of anti-bacterial products is also causing the mutation of new strains of invasive, anti-bacteria resistant pathogens. Most food poisonings occur not from eating raw meat. Instead, the cooking process kills most or all of the beneficial and pathogenic bacteria. If the cooking process does not kill all the pathogens or the cooked product is subject to recontamination of pathogens, from, say contact with the same cutting board or utensils that contacted the raw meat, then the pathogens have a near sterile surface for quick multiplication (bacteria double in number every 20 minutes). After 4 or 5 hours of temperature abuse (i.e., holding at room temperature), pathogenic bacteria will reach an infective dose of roughly 100,000 organisms/gram. While the vast majority of food borne outbreaks are post-processing (after-cooking) in nature, their are some inherent risks with eating raw meat or fish. Above, I mentioned concerns with raw ground beef and raw pork, beef, or bore. Similarly, raw shellfish is notorious for concentrating bacterial pathogens and heavy metals from unsanitary shellfish beds. Fermenting raw meat in an anaerobic environment (i.e., without oxygen), such as in a bag or package at room temperature can cause botulism poisoning and almost sure death. I feel that a set of guidelines of safe food handling practices should be developed at the same time that a diet of raw meat and fish is being advocated. Rob