Dining out is a popular pastime, but it's essential to be aware of potential food safety risks. We all have our go to foods whenever we are at a restaurant and enjoy the prospect of getting to eat their favorite meal. But even in the most high-end restaurants, the risk of getting sick always lingers. You never know when or what may cause issues for you

Food poisoning is a common problem that can lead to things like nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach upset. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 48 million people in the United States get sick from food poisoning each year. While sometimes it is unavoidable, being aware of these things can help you understand things that can go wrong and taking precautions when eating at restaurants. It's crucial to be informed to protect your health and enjoy your dining experience without worry. Here are some foods you should either avoid or be careful while eating.

Foods You Should Be Careful About While Dining Out

Eggs

Even eggs that look fine can have Salmonella bacteria. These bacteria can make you sick with stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Restaurants can cause outbreaks if they don't cook eggs to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, store them at the wrong temperature, use unpasteurized eggs, or use dirty cooking tools. These bad practices let bacteria grow and make people sick. So, it's important to cook and handle eggs the right way.

Pre-Cut Melons

Melons that are cut up ahead of time, like in fruit salads, are more likely to cause food poisoning. When you cut a melon, bacteria on the outside can get to the inside. If lots of fruit is cut in one place, it's easier for bacteria to spread. Since people eat melons raw, there's no cooking to kill the germs. These germs, like Listeria, Salmonella, or E. coli, can make you really sick. So, be careful with pre-cut melons.

Sprouts

Sprouts are healthy, but they grow in warm, wet places where bacteria like Listeria like to live. Even washing sprouts doesn't always get rid of these germs. And because people usually eat sprouts raw, there's no cooking to kill the bacteria. This makes sprouts a big cause of food poisoning. There have been lots of outbreaks linked to sprouts, with many people getting sick and even ending up in the hospital. So, it's a good idea to avoid sprouts, especially at restaurants.

Undercooked Meat

Meat that isn't cooked enough can have harmful bacteria like Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter. Campylobacter is a common cause of diarrhea. Ground beef is extra risky because it's often made from meat from many different cows. If one cow is sick, all the ground beef can be contaminated. While quickly cooking the outside of a steak can kill surface germs, undercooked ground beef and other meats are still dangerous. Cooking meat all the way through is super important.

Fishes

Some fish can cause specific kinds of food poisoning. Ciguatera poisoning happens when you eat fish that ate poisonous algae, like grouper, sea bass, and red snapper. Cooking doesn't get rid of these poisons. Scombroid poisoning can happen if fish like tuna, sardines, and mahi-mahi aren't stored correctly, which lets bacteria make poisons. Cooking doesn't help with this either. It's important for restaurants to get their fish from good places and keep it stored at the right temperature.

Oyster

Oysters filter water, which means they can collect bacteria and viruses. A big risk is vibriosis, which is caused by Vibrio bacteria that live in warm ocean water where oysters grow. Eating raw or undercooked oysters is very risky. These bacteria can cause serious sickness, and sometimes even infections in the blood. Cooking oysters completely to at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit makes them much safer. So, cooked oysters are a better choice.

Leafy Greens

Greens like lettuce and spinach can get contaminated with bacteria from things like dirty water, animal poop, and not handling them correctly. Even washing them might not get rid of all the germs, especially if they're inside the leaves. Bacteria can grow fast on greens that are wilted or slimy. Restaurants need to get their greens from good farms, wash them really well, and store them correctly. Choosing fresh, crispy greens helps reduce the risk.

Steer clear of certain food items in buffets

Buffets have a higher chance of food poisoning for a few reasons. Many people use the same serving spoons, which spreads germs. Food can sit out for too long at the wrong temperature, letting bacteria grow. Also, people might cough or sneeze near the food. Common germs at buffets include bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria, and viruses like norovirus. Restaurants need to check food temperatures, change serving spoons often, and make sure everyone is washing their hands.

After the Thanksgiving, on Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s top vaccine regulator, Vinay Prasad made a clam that shocked the public-health established. "For the first time, the US FDA will acknowledge that COVID-19 vaccines have killed American children," he wrote in a leaked email to his staff, as reported by The Atlantic and The Washington Post.

The agency has identified that at least 10 children died after getting COVID shots.

The email has been perceived by physicians as a "threat". A response from 12 former FDA commissioners, published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, called Prasad's memo "a threat to evidence-based vaccine policy and public health security". All of the potential vaccine related deaths reported to government were already reviewed by the agency's staff, and had reached "different conclusions", wrote the former commissioners.

Elsewhere, doctors and scientists have declared that there are no evidence that links COVID-19 vaccines to deaths in children. The commissioners have claimed that in an attempt to deliberately bring evidence, Prasad and his colleagues had engaged in an "evidence-manufacturing mission", a "dumpster dive" for shoddy data, or worse, a campaign of lying.

Prasad is one of several public health officials who, under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s leadership, have been steadily chipping away at public trust in vaccines. So far, he has not provided evidence to back his claims, and his estimate of vaccine-related deaths may be exaggerated. The memo’s intense language and focus on political complaints also cast doubt on his assertions.

However, something that cannot be ignored is that fact that his memo may have provoked people to deny even the possibility of COVID-vaccine-related deaths. The Atlantic notes that "the idea that mRNA-based shots have, tragically, killed a very small number of children is not far-fetched." The article written by Benjamin Mazer, a physician who specializes in pathology and laboratory, notes that the this does not imply a "catastrophic threat to public health" as tens of millions of doses of the same vaccines have saved young people.

Understanding the Debate Of Vaccine-Linked Deaths

Public-health experts agree that COVID vaccines, like all medical treatments, can cause side effects. Myocarditis, a rare heart inflammation seen mostly in adolescent boys and young men after mRNA shots, remains the most discussed risk. Although usually mild and far less severe than virus-induced myocarditis, a few deaths have been documented worldwide, including isolated cases in the U.S., South Korea, and two American teenagers described in a peer-reviewed report.

These findings fuel ongoing debate about whether extremely rare vaccine-related deaths are being overlooked. Some scientists, including Paul Offit and Michael Osterholm, say the evidence does not prove the vaccines caused these deaths, noting that population-level studies show no rise in mortality after vaccination. Others argue that well-investigated autopsy-confirmed cases should be taken seriously rather than dismissed outright.

Experts such as Krutika Kuppalli, as cited by Mazer, emphasize that even if deaths occur, they are so uncommon they do not appear statistically, while the benefits, significantly reduced COVID mortality, are unmistakable. However, individual cases still raise questions on health authorities and the stricter standards of proofs they have applied when vaccines were involved to create a room for skepticism.

The concern is that rare side effects of vaccines could go undiscovered and not that vaccinations are inherently harmful.

Are you down with fever? Are your symptoms also a little less common from an ordinary cold? Are you also confused between flu and COVID? Then knowing this one symptom could help you set flu apart from COVID. Dr Rupa Parmar, a GP and medical director at Midland Health tells The Mirror, that shortness of breath could be a key symptom that could differentiate between the two.

Dr Parmar highlights that it is a key indicator for COVID. "Shortness of breath is rare in both a cold and the flu, but as COVID more so affects the lungs due to inflammation, it is a common symptom."

The NHS website supports her advice, noting that breathlessness is a symptom more often tied to Covid, not the flu or a common cold. This kind of breathing difficulty is usually associated with infections like Covid or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

What Else Could Help You Know If You Have A COVID or Flu?

The nature of your cough could also help you understand different ailments. Dr Parmar said that a cold would produce a mild cough, whereas a flu cough could be more dry. However, with covid, "a cough will be dry and continuous, and many people will cough for more than an hour or have three or more coughing episodes within a day."

If one has lost their sense of smell or taste, then the chances are, this could be COVID. However, this symptom is also present in cold or in a flu.

For people who have Covid, the NHS advises staying home and avoiding contact with others if they or their children have symptoms and either develop a high temperature or feel too unwell to work, attend school, manage childcare, or carry out daily activities. If you are unsure about the cause, it is important to speak with a doctor.

Dr Parmar emphasized: "after all, it is always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to health."

What Is Flu?

The flu is a common respiratory illness that happen from the influenza virus. The common flu symptoms are:

• Fever
• Sore Throat
• Runny Nose
• Fatigue
• Body Aches
• Cough
• Headaches

What Is COVID-19?

As per the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. The common symptoms include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Nausea
• Sore Throat
• Runny Nose
• Loss of smell or taste

COVID-19 could also have some long-lasting symptoms unlike flu or cold, that could seem unrelated to the original infection.

As per the Ohio State University, the most recent COVID variant is XFG or the Stratus variant. Another new variant that causes the 'razor blade' like sore throat is Nimbus.

The symptoms of this new variant includes:

• Congestion
• Cough
• Fever
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Muscle Aches

'Razor blade' Throat

NB.1.8.1 or the Nimbus variant is a subvariant of Omicron, which is a dominant COVID variant since late 2021. Omicron variants tend to cause more throat problems than the other variants seen earlier.

The COVID virus binds to ACE2 receptors. According to WebMD, the cells in your nose and throat contain more ACE2 receptors than those deeper in the lungs, which makes them easier targets for Omicron variants. Once the virus attaches to these receptors in the upper airway, your immune system begins to respond.

Ever since the Trump administration has come to power, sentiments against vaccines have gone up. Many vaccine critiques have been handpicked by the anti-vaxxer HHS Secretary RFK Jr. as health officials. So it is no surprise that now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is now recommending that mothers who test negative for hepatitis B should discuss the need for the vaccine with their doctors. If parents choose to delay the birth dose, the first shot should be given at no earlier than two months of age. This is dropping the longstanding hepatitis B vaccine guideline that stated that every newborn receive the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine shortly after birth. This recommendation, in place since 1991, was reversed on December 5 after a key CDC advisory committee voted to change the policy.

This committee was appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who dismissed all 17 previous members earlier this year. The shift in policy has triggered wide debate, especially in the medical community, because it overturns one of the longest standing infant vaccination guidelines in the United States.

Below are some of the claims made by the panel, both sides, who debated the vaccine's need or unimportance for all infants.

Hidden Hepatitis B Infections Make Risk Hard to Judge

Claim: Several ACIP members questioned whether babies considered “low risk” truly need a hepatitis B shot at birth. But hepatitis B is not always easy to detect or trace.

The virus spreads through bodily fluids such as blood, semen and vaginal fluids. It is also extremely resilient and can survive on surfaces for up to a week. Even tiny amounts of dried blood from everyday items like razors, toothbrushes or nail clippers can carry the virus.

Hepatitis B often has no symptoms for years. The CDC estimates that 640,000 adults in the United States live with chronic hepatitis B, and half do not know they are infected. This means that even if a mother tests negative during pregnancy, her newborn can still be exposed through family members or other caretakers. Before universal birth-dose vaccination began, only half of infected children under age ten had contracted the virus from their mothers at birth.

Because so many people are unaware of their infections, determining true risk is complicated.

The Vaccine Protects the Most Vulnerable: Newborns

Claim: Some committee members suggested that vaccinating all newborns mainly protects adults or others at higher risk.

That claim is misleading. The primary purpose of giving the shot at birth is to protect infants, who face the most severe long-term consequences of infection.

Hepatitis B attacks the liver. If an infant becomes infected, there is a very high chance the disease will progress into a chronic lifelong condition. About a quarter of those children eventually die prematurely from liver failure or liver cancer. While treatments exist to reduce complications, there is no cure.

Dr. James Campbell, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Maryland, reminded the committee that the vaccine strategy transformed public health outcomes. “We used to have 18,000 or 20,000 kids born with this every year, and a quarter of them would go on to develop liver cancer. We now have almost none,” he said.

Falling Infection Rates Show Vaccines Worked

Claim: Hepatitis B infections fell sharply after the birth-dose recommendation took effect. Before vaccination became routine, up to 300,000 Americans were infected annually. About 20,000 of those were children.

Today, total annual cases have dropped to around 14,000. Among people under 19, chronic infections have reached extremely low levels. In 2022, the CDC documented only 252 new cases in this age group.

ACIP member Dr. H. Cody Meissner, who voted against changing the policy, argued that declining numbers do not justify easing precautions. “It is a mistake to say that because we are not seeing much disease, we can change the schedule,” he said. “If we do, hepatitis B infections will come back.”

The United States Is Not an Outlier

Claim: Some committee members compared U.S. policy to countries such as Denmark, which does not vaccinate all newborns.

However, the United States is far from alone in recommending a universal birth-dose. According to CDC data from September 2025, 116 out of 194 World Health Organization member countries recommend hepatitis B vaccination at birth.

Denmark does not include hepatitis B in its standard childhood schedule, but it has a centralized national health system, higher prenatal screening rates and less fragmented medical records. The United States lacks these structural advantages, which makes relying solely on maternal testing more challenging.