I ’m not a picky feeder . I ca n’t be , I write about food . I’vetasted boundary line inedible condiments from every fast - food join , been force - course Sonic shake , and taste whatever food for thought a chef was serving raw . You name it , I ’ve probably eat on it ( and then at once rue it ) . So I ’m not finicky . I ’m terrified of food . There ’s a difference . And it suck .

Picky eater vs. terrified eater

I ’m a " panicked feeder , " and I ’ll admit I ’m a type of fussy feeder , but I do n’t like to think of myself that direction . fussy eaters give reasons for why they ca n’t eat food like , " it has a weird consistency " or " I do n’t wish the agency it smells , " or " if I look too long at the watchword gluten , I get a stomachache . "

Terrified eaters like myself have a first-rate - specific rationality as to why we do n’t corrode sure solid food , and it can be churn down to one word : fright . I ’m afraid if I eat sealed foods , I ’ll get sick . It ’s paralyzing .

Why I’m a terrified eater

There could be stack of account as to how I got to this place , but I ’m going to immobilize it on two thing . My parent are finicky eaters , and this feels like something that could be genetic . accord to Google , my screen guesspotentially has scientific validity . Who take science when you have gut feelings , anyways ? Science is drivel , except for when it confirms what I was already thinking ! rust a dick , Neil deGrasse Tyson !

tot up to that the fact that I rise up in a household that ate healthier than a vegetarian live on a commune . I remember make playfulness of hoi polloi for use up bacon cheeseburger with my mom . And besides , I always thought cheeseburger were kind of flagrant . It was n’t even cooked all the room through ! stock comes out if you mash it ! And you know who eats pork ? Other kinds of hoi polloi . I ’m as Judaic as Drake is J … not good at dancing .

uncalled-for to say , I ’ve changed my ruling on burgers , and they are presently a huge reservoir of joy in my life . But I ’m still a little frightened of feed one rare . I order mine medium . And that ’s belike because intellectual nourishment has made me sick quite a draw in my sprightliness .

Terrifying food

Jason Hoffman/Thrillist

I ’ve broken out into hive and gotten extremely fed up after exhaust strawberries . I once got sick from scallops I had eaten 60 minutes earlier in the center of question Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian . I ’ve been disgusted in a box , after eating fox , Sam - I - am . You get the picture . Bottom line : those experience were scarring , and I ’d rather not retroflex them . But thanks to a job that requires me to deplete omnivorously , I ’ve never been less particular of an eater in my biography , and I ’ve never been more frightened of beget sick from food .

What the hell am I so afraid of?

I used to be generally afraid of foods likesushiandrare burgersin the precis , but now I have self-coloured fact to back up my fearfulness . I blame Dr. Doug Powell , who compose the food guard siteBarfBlog.com . I was doing inquiry for a story on food safety , and interview him because he ’s an expert . He singlehandedly sire me toswear off bean sproutscompletely – he told me he never eats them , which is good enough for me . He chronicles all the unspeakable E. coli , norovirus , salmonella , and other not - fun outbreaks all over the world for his absolutely named internet site .

He analyzes the unsound aspect of the food world – every repast is potentially a luck for him to get nauseous . He ’s like a grizzled homicide detective who has receive so many murderers , everyone start to take care like a manslayer to him . Mr. BarfBlog ’s dinner plate is the law-breaking scene . And so is mine .

Why I shouldn’t be a terrified eater, and neither should you

Chipotle has been in the newsfor reasons it ’d rather not be , as it had outbreaks of norovirus and E. coli at locations all over the land . I used to go to Chipotle on a weekly fundament – I ’ve only been twice since the news break , and one of those times was when it render me a barren burrito . I walked by a locating near me the other day and the line was out the door , as it was before the outbreak . I do n’t think those people are unenlightened . I believe they ’re play the odds , just like we all do when we take a bite out of something that might hurt us , and I think the odds are in their favor .

Chipotle ’s sale are downbecause even their most loyal customers were staying away in the quaternary one-quarter of 2015 . I ’m certain some patriotic customers get sick from their food in 2015 , like the 234 confirmed guinea pig in Simi Valley , CA in August .

lease ’s break down these numbers : it was figure that 3,000 entrees were sold during a two - day period . permit ’s say each entree was sold to an individual someone , and that the phone number of cases was under - report by half – that would imply 500 out of 3,000 mass get sick . Therefore , 83 % of hoi polloi who eat at a Chipotle fix that had " failure in pest restraint , sanitation , and upkeep " were fine . Sounds like a verbal description of my last New York City flat .

buffet

Flickr/Ray Yu

Food Safety Newsestimates that the salmonella , E. coli , and norovirus outbreaks from US Chipotle locations sickened 500 + people . Now , I ’m certain those people were extremely sick and the side effects they suffered through were debilitating . It sounds like the worst hangover combine with the worst nutrient poisoning you ’d ever had . But put it in perspective – if 1,900 Chipotle locations each average out 1,500 admission a day , that ’s 2.85 million meals . Let ’s say the 500 + people that were nauseate was really 1,000 mass . It ’s still only a .03 % contagion pace . The betting odds of getting an STD from a Tinder date are much large . And yet for every Tinder user whose doctor just told them they contracted gonorrhea , they probably still recall , " deserving it ! "

It’s time to stop being afraid (but maybe avoid sprouts)

Yeah , sushi has parasite worms , andundercooked burgerswill make you extraordinarily unhinged . And it ’s true that I ’ve been revolt by food more fourth dimension than I can count in my life . But if you go to a sushi place with quality fish and a sparkling health code disk , or you eat up beefburger from a place that owns a heart thermometer and expend it , you ’re belike in the clear .

Eating is one of the pure joyfulness I have on this major planet , and the chance that I ( or anyone ) gets sickish from deplete properly prepared food in a white environment is small . So let ’s all thrust intellectual nourishment into our mouth with an Andrew Zimmern - may - care attitude and not worry about the result ! You bonk , until we become aged or sick , because then It ’s tough to push off E. coli and whatnot , and it can kill us . Bon appetit !

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rare hamburger

Flickr/Foodie Buddha

e coli

E. coli Bacteria | Flickr/NIAID

Lee Breslouer being forcefed a milkshake

Rebecca Feder/Thrillist

bean sprouts

Flickr/kattebelletje