Tag: 27. September 2023

Have you ever eaten some dodgy takeaway or tested the validity of ‘use by’ suggestions? If so, you’ve probably experienced a treacherous evening in hell, swearing off a particular meal indefinitely. Now imagine witnessing the cycle of food poisoning day in and day out. 

After treating thousands of patients for terrible bouts of food poisoning, An ER doctor and trauma surgeon has divulged the most common foods associated with food poisoning cases, advising people to avoid them at all costs. 

Dr Gabe, another TikTok doctor putting his 12 years of medical training to good use, has racked up over 64 thousand followers on the platform, sharing helpful tips and explanations relating to a myriad of health conditions and commonly asked questions.

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These are the top three foods Dr Gabe would never put on his shopping list. 

#1. Raw cookie dough

Before you shed a tear for your favourite ice cream flavour, Dr Gabe insists raw cookie dough in this form is usually safe, as the eggs are pasteurised and the flour has been heat-treated. Instead, the cookie dough you should be wary of is your homemade or store-bought batch. 

“Buying a raw batch that needs to be baked first is a big no-no,” he says. “Raw flour could contain E-coli and should always be cooked.”

#2. Unpasteurised dairy products

Situated in the United States, Dr Gabe is understandably seeing a higher prevalence of unpasteurised dairy product-related hospital admissions. Many states in the US still allow the production and distribution of unpasteurised milk and cheese.

“I’m not sure why this has been an emerging trend recently, but consuming foods made with raw unpasteurised milk like cheese puts you at risk for salmonella or E-coli poisoning,” says Dr Gabe, acknowledging the rise of controversial food trends on the very dame platform he preaches health advice from. 

Here in Australia, Food Standards Australia New Zealand have been notoriously strict about such products until December last year, when amendments to regulations were made to allow local production and sale of raw milk products.

#3. Raw oysters

Bad news for those of us who have been hanging out for a summer Aperol sprits and ice cold plate of a dozen Sydney rock oysters. Despite acknowledging he might make a few people unhappy by saying so, the physician says these salt-water molluscs are the number one food he has learnt to avoid after a career in the emergency department. 

“Oysters are considered filter feeders which live in coastal or brackish waters, meaning they absorb a lot of harmful bugs from their environment,” the doctor explains. 

“Those nasty bugs, Vibrio, could lead to some serious food poisoning,” he adds. “I personally would only eat oysters if they were fully cooked.”

As more potentially harmful products gradually surface on the market, it’s probably a wise idea to follow Dr Gabe’s advice and steer clear, or you could easily end up in the emergency department feeling less than fresh. 

Australian health experts are warning of the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV), a virus that’s surging across Australia and leaving our most vulnerable hospitalised.

HMPV is a virus that affects the ribonucleic acid (RNA) in our cells, and is a respiratory disease that causes people to cough and have a fever,  shortness of breath and nasal congestion. 

Data shows more than 1100 people in NSW alone came down with the illness last week – a 15 per cent increase on the week before.

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While the name sounds scary, infectious disease specialist Dr Nick Coatsworth says it’s a virus most of us have had before.

“It’s one of the common cold viruses that circulates every single year and NSW seems to be going through a little uptick at the moment,” he told 2GB radio station.

So why the sudden surge, and why are some people ending up in hospital?

Dr Coatsworth said it’s all got to do with the transition of seasons. “When you have a change of season, we see some of these non-Covid respiratory viruses,” he explained, and added that HMPV can develop into bronchitis or pneumonia, and for our immunocompromised and vulnerable groups, like the elderly and children under five, it can be deadly.

While Dr Coatsworth said the spike in numbers doesn’t alarm him, Professor William Rawlinson from the University of NSW was concerned that some of us who could typically handle respiratory illnesses are struggling with HMPV.

“We’re not only seeing increased numbers, but we’re also seeing people who we typically would think have a mild illness tending to have a more severe illness,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Severe reactions to HMPV can include pneumonia, bronchitis and aggravated asthma. 

Leigh Davison from Baltimore in the US told CNN she picked up the virus from a family gathering – two weeks later she became violently ill.

“I couldn’t get out more than a couple of words. I would go into violent, violent coughing to the point where I was literally almost throwing up,” the 59-year-old said, and explaining that after a series of Covid tests came back negative, she went to her doctor who admitted her to hospital.

Davison had developed bronchitis, and called HMPV “the worst I’ve ever experienced” in comparison to other respiratory infections.

It took a month for her to fully recover.

Symptoms of Human Metapneumovirus

• Cough
• Fever
• Nasal congestion
• Shortness of breath

Complications from Human Metapneumovirus

• Pneumonia
• Bronchitis
• Wheezing
• Aggravated asthma
• Difficulty breathing 
• Long-term pulmonary inflammation

Have you ever eaten some dodgy takeaway or tested the validity of ‘use by’ suggestions? If so, you’ve probably experienced a treacherous evening in hell, swearing off a particular meal indefinitely. Now imagine witnessing the cycle of food poisoning day in and day out. 

After treating thousands of patients for terrible bouts of food poisoning, An ER doctor and trauma surgeon has divulged the most common foods associated with food poisoning cases, advising people to avoid them at all costs. 

Dr Gabe, another TikTok doctor putting his 12 years of medical training to good use, has racked up over 64 thousand followers on the platform, sharing helpful tips and explanations relating to a myriad of health conditions and commonly asked questions.

Like what you see? Sign up to our bodyandsoul.com.au newsletter for more stories like this.

These are the top three foods Dr Gabe would never put on his shopping list. 

#1. Raw cookie dough

Before you shed a tear for your favourite ice cream flavour, Dr Gabe insists raw cookie dough in this form is usually safe, as the eggs are pasteurised and the flour has been heat-treated. Instead, the cookie dough you should be wary of is your homemade or store-bought batch. 

“Buying a raw batch that needs to be baked first is a big no-no,” he says. “Raw flour could contain E-coli and should always be cooked.”

#2. Unpasteurised dairy products

Situated in the United States, Dr Gabe is understandably seeing a higher prevalence of unpasteurised dairy product-related hospital admissions. Many states in the US still allow the production and distribution of unpasteurised milk and cheese.

“I’m not sure why this has been an emerging trend recently, but consuming foods made with raw unpasteurised milk like cheese puts you at risk for salmonella or E-coli poisoning,” says Dr Gabe, acknowledging the rise of controversial food trends on the very dame platform he preaches health advice from. 

Here in Australia, Food Standards Australia New Zealand have been notoriously strict about such products until December last year, when amendments to regulations were made to allow local production and sale of raw milk products.

#3. Raw oysters

Bad news for those of us who have been hanging out for a summer Aperol sprits and ice cold plate of a dozen Sydney rock oysters. Despite acknowledging he might make a few people unhappy by saying so, the physician says these salt-water molluscs are the number one food he has learnt to avoid after a career in the emergency department. 

“Oysters are considered filter feeders which live in coastal or brackish waters, meaning they absorb a lot of harmful bugs from their environment,” the doctor explains. 

“Those nasty bugs, Vibrio, could lead to some serious food poisoning,” he adds. “I personally would only eat oysters if they were fully cooked.”

As more potentially harmful products gradually surface on the market, it’s probably a wise idea to follow Dr Gabe’s advice and steer clear, or you could easily end up in the emergency department feeling less than fresh.