I have just eaten what I now perceive to be raw sausage meat. Will this prove to be a long-term problem for me?
Ed Ibble from Lickaster
Dear Ed,
How are
you feeling? I'm guessing by the time this response gets to you you've
just spent several hours....umm.... OK let's move on. There was a time
when raw sausage meat would have been particularly harmful. That's because
it could contain harmful trichinosis which, by the way, is easily killed
by cooking. Luckily its nearly a non-existent problem because of the way
pigs are raised today. In fact, cases are extremely rare. Never the less
you can still get other sorts of food poisoning from uncooked meat. Most
people get sick within 4 to 48 hours after eating bad food, so you should
know by now if you will. Fortunately, most people recover from food poisoning
with little long-term effects. Bulging eyes, massive hair loss, inflamed
inner thighs, foaming at the mouth, loss of tongue control… these
are all very, very uncommon occurrences. So, don't worry. Actually,
my biggest concern in the entire matter is how you could eat sausage and
not be certain if it is raw or cooked. Obviously it wasn't served to you
or you could assume it was cooked. And had you prepared it yourself you
would know. Therefore, I'm guessing you found it laying about and just
ate it. Or you purchased it and failed to read the packaging before ingesting
it. One thing you should keep in mind when eating meat is that if you suspect
even in the slightest that the meat has not been cooked, all etiquette
can go right out the window. Feel free to spit that meat out. Granted,
you don't have to spit it at someone, but don't feel you have to swallow
raw meat, especially raw ground meat which can harbor a host of harmful
bacteria. Because if you think spitting out one piece of meat is bad, imagine
reliving that scene over and over for the next 12 hours until your stomach
settles down. (Then again, maybe you don't have to imagine.)
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