You’re pretty lucky if you’ve never found yourself struck with a bout of food poisoning.
The sickness and nausea can be tough to shake off, and can certainly put you off eating the food that made you unwell.
But an expert has revealed that food poisoning can also wreak havoc on your overall gut health.
The illness can be caused by many different things, from meat that’s not been properly cooked to reheated leftovers, reports Surrey Live.
We’d all like to avoid food poisoning if we can, and one gut health scientist has advised against eating some foods that are perhaps best left off your plate.
Mr Gut Health on TikTok said: “I avoid these foods because they’re most likely to cause food poisoning.
“Food poisoning increases your risk of having long-term gut health problems such as post-infectious IBS.”
Here are the five foods he swears he will never eat due to their risk of giving you food poisoning.
Oysters
While this fancy seafood dish might be seen as an aphrodisiac, the expert warned there is ‘nothing sexy’ about the consequences you could suffer after eating them.
He said: “Oysters are filter feeders so they pick up everything in the water, including bacteria.”
The NHS warns of the dangers of eating oysters on its website.
It says: “Most of the shellfish we eat is cooked first, but oysters are often served raw. Raw shellfish, particularly oysters, can contain low levels of certain viruses, such as norovirus.
“If you are serving oysters raw, be especially careful when buying and storing them.”
Rare beef burgers
The gut health expert cautioned: “Don’t order your beef burgers rare, it’s not the same as getting a steak.
“Beef burgers are typically made from mince meat, so all the bacteria on the outside gets mixed in together. Make sure you order them at least medium well.”
Leftover sushi
If you’ve stored your sushi in the fridge for two days, then it might be time to throw it away.
The scientist explained: “Most fish used to make sushi is actually frozen to kill the parasites and bacteria but it goes off really quickly once prepared. So make sure you eat it all in the same day.”
Showing off a pack of supermarket sushi with a yellow price reduction sticker on it, he warned: “And if you’re buying this stuff then you’re just asking for it, really.”
Sprouts
The way that sprouts are cultivated can make them a breeding ground for bacteria, explained the health influencer.
He said: “Sprouts are grown in warm conditions and we don’t typically cook them. They’re responsible for at least one outbreak of food poisoning every year.
“I know they’re supposed to be superfoods, but the risk isn’t worth the reward in my opinion.”
Bagged salads
It may be shocking to hear that a bag of salad is a common cause of food poisoning.
The expert has warned that bagged salad is responsible for a huge amount of food poisoning cases.
He said: “How bad is this? 22 per cent of all food poisoning cases in the last decade [in the US according to the CDC] have been linked to salads. To put that into perspective, seafood accounts for about six percent of all cases.”
The reason these pre-packaged salads are so risky is because there are ‘so many’ potential cross-contamination points.
The pro added: “And inside of the bags are always moist, and that’s the perfect environment for bacteria to proliferate.”