Black List: Top 6 Most Harmful Products

According to the World Health Organization, about 200 diseases can be transmitted through food. However, you can avoid most of them by choosing, storing, and preparing food properly. But some food always falls into the risk group, while others are safer for the buyer. Which products are a source of the potential threat and which are not? We have compiled a “Black List” of food products that consumers need to be extremely careful about when buying.

Most Hazardous Products For Health

Here is the list of products that cause harm to your health.

1. Meat

Contamination of food products can occur at various stages of production – during cultivation, harvesting, processing, storage, packaging and more. Diseases in humans get provoked by bacteria and viruses before it reaches the buyer’s table.

Low-quality meat is most often contaminated with salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. You also need to be afraid of campylobacter, staphylococcus, parasite larvae, and tapeworms. To reduce the risk of infection, store raw meat and minced meat separately from other products. It is better to have a separate board, dishes, and knives for cutting them.

Thorough heat treatment will help destroy almost all dangerous microorganisms. The boiling point of roasts and soups with meat should be at least 70 degrees Celsius. You cannot store ready-made meat dishes at room temperature for more than two hours. And also, do not need to leave them in the refrigerator for a long time.

2. Alcoholic Beverages

Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages can lead to high blood pressure, heart diseases, liver diseases, and even stroke. Even though the harmful impact of alcohol is widely known, alcoholism is still quite prevalent across the globe. People abuse it for different reasons and believe that it will help them feel better.

However, this is not true. You need to quit alcohol addiction if you want to restore your well-being. There are different treatment programs, e.g., inpatient programs as well as outpatient programs, that can help those seeking sobriety. The quality of your life will improve significantly once you get sober.

3. Sausages

The dubious composition and the lack of benefit do not deter those who want to enjoy a sandwich with a hot dog. Sausages are a popular product category that saves time when forming a diet. But this product is one of the most dangerous for human health.

This is because sausage rarely undergoes heat treatment. It means that it can be a source of serious threat. Thus, when buying sausage, one should be wary not of the presence of soy, preservatives or a large amount of fat but of pathogenic bacteria.

Some of the tested samples of sausages could not boast compliance with the microbiological indicators standards. Therefore, you should process sausages thermally before use. And if possible, reduce the consumption of such products or abandon them altogether.

4. Milk Products

Milk and dairy products are good consumer choices. They are recommended for children and adults. Therefore, it seems that you should question the quality of these products. However, in practice, it is milk that often causes poisoning and other ailments. First of all, experts recommend being wary of the raw liquid obtained from cows.

Only ultra-pasteurized milk can be called safe and, at the same time, useful. It undergoes a special treatment that preserves vitamins but destroys pathogenic microflora. As with other animal products, it may contain E. coli, Listeria, and other micro-organisms. And such products may contain antibiotics, preservatives, vegetable fats, and other unsafe ingredients.

To reduce health risks, choose only pure milk and keep it refrigerated. Dairy products should not be consumed after the expiration date. When buying them, you must carefully study the composition; it should not contain anything superfluous.

5. Fish

Like meat, raw fish often causes poisoning and other ailments. Even lightly salted foods, fish preserves may not meet safety standards. What can we say about live fish caught in open water or grown on farms? Such products may contain elements toxic to human health.

These are methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyls. The least safe are large fish – shark, tuna, swordfish, Atlantic bighead, etc. The method of freezing fish during production is also important. It is wiser to buy chilled or fresh-frozen products.

However, this is not always possible. The best method is cryogenic freezing. But experts advise not to use the goods of secondary freezing. With this treatment, pre-thawed carcasses are saturated with chemicals – food polyphosphates. This category of stabilizers remains in the fish after thawing.

6. Pre-Washed Vegetables And Fruits

Vegetables, fruits, and berries are becoming unsafe due to the use of pesticides and other chemicals. However, it is better to use fresh vegetables and fruits. Such fruits are perfectly even, glossy, bright, and without any flaws. Fruits and vegetables with a damaged surface should also be avoided due to the possible ingress of microbes into the pulp.

But in general, experts always recommend eating seasonal plant foods, so it is less likely to include pesticide-grown fruits in the diet. Even if the appearance of the products does not cause concern, carrots, cabbage, apples, and asparagus can be a source of health risks. This applies to cases where the fruits are thoroughly washed before sale.

The fact is that excess moisture during the storage of vegetables and fruits contributes to the active reproduction of pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, do not be tempted to save time when preparing vegetables for salad. Sliced ​​fruits are especially dangerous – no one can guarantee that microbes were not introduced during their processing.

Take Away

We eat some products, considering them to be healthy. However, most of them only damage our well-being. Thus, we mentioned a list of products that are detrimental to your health and must be avoided. We are hopeful that by knowing about them, you can quit them for better health.