Can you remember what it was like going into a restaurant a couple of decades ago and ordering steak? “How would you like your steak cooked,” would ask the waiter. The only real options back then were medium-well or well-done. No one ever ordered anything but.

While watching your favorite shows have you seen that beef-serving restaurant advertisements display their meat dishes not fully cooked? Preferences have definitely changed, and now many restaurant denizens order their burgers and steaks rare – that’s pink, or even red in the center!

Reports claim that cooking meat increases the probability of carcinogens in the meat, and the longer you cook the meat the higher the probability of carcinogens. The risk of consuming carcinogens increases when cooking over an open flame. These reports also claim this health risk is a major factor driving this change of preferences.

So well-cooked meat has serious health risks, but what about red or pink meat? Have you taken note of the numerous news reports of grocery and restaurant meat tainted with dangerous levels of E. coli?  Interestingly these bacterial infections have occurred despite the bolstering of laws regarding health regulations and facility inspections.

Unfortunately, being found within the feces of warm-blooded mammals, that’s us, this coliform bacterium occurs much more frequently than most think. Unwashed hands are the major route of infection of foods, including raw meat.

A described by the Ontario Ministry of Health, E. coli is a cause of food poisoning:

“Foodborne illness (commonly know as food poisoning) cases happen when people eat food that contains pathogens or toxins. You can’t see, smell or taste them, and between 4°C and 60°C or 40°F and 140°F, they can multiply rapidly to create millions of new bacteria in just a few hours.”

“Eating contaminated food can make you sick. For some people, especially young children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, food poisoning can be very dangerous and can lead to long-term health complications and even death. That’s why it’s important to prevent it with safe food handling practices.”

In an article about the consequences of eating raw meat the author states:

“While eating rare meat doesn’t guarantee anything bad will happen to you, it does increase your risk of getting a food-borne illness, such as E. coli, salmonella or listeria. Properly cooking your meat to the recommended internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit for chops, roasts or steaks of beef, lamb or pork; 160 degrees for ground red meat and 165 degrees for poultry helps limit this risk as it kills many of the organisms that cause these food-borne illnesses.”

Another food-borne disease, trichinosis, can be contracted by anyone who eats the raw meat of an infected animal. According to the New York State Department of Health:

“Stomach symptoms tend to appear 1-2 days after eating infected meat. These symptoms usually include diarrhea (loose stool/poop), nausea (feeling of sickness in the stomach), fatigue, and stomach pain. Other symptoms may appear 2-8 weeks after infection and may include fever, headaches, chills, muscle soreness, pain and swelling around the eyes. The length and severity of symptoms varies depending upon the number of parasites in the meat and the amount eaten. Although rare, complications can develop and affect the heart, brain, and lungs; these complications may be fatal.”

Another disease is caused by a parasitic worm, the liver fluke.  According to Healthline, “Infections in humans usually occur after eating contaminated raw or undercooked freshwater fish or watercress.”

“In the short term, a liver fluke infection can bring about symptoms such as: abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hives, malaise, decreased appetite and weight loss. There are also some rare complications associated with heavy liver fluke infections. These include stone formation, recurrent infections of the biliary system, and cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer).”

Investigation into food poisoning was sparked by seeing all the E. coli stories on the news. Learning the information above has made me particular in choice of the meat I eat, and weary of how it is cooked.