Foodborne pathogens can be simply termed as bad microbes. Bad microbes can cause food poisoning. Food poisoning causes vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, gastrointestinal illness and even death. Foodborne pathogens do not necessarily cause a negative impact on the food as foods may still look ‘okay’ for consumption.

Have you ever heard or done one of the following practices? If yes, you might not be the only one. Let’s clear up some misconceptions about food safety from the perspective of a food microbiologist.

 

1. Five-second rule: If I drop my food on the floor, pick it up within five seconds, blow on it before I eat it, then it is safe to eat it.

No. Foods that are touching the floor, although in a split second, can pick up microbes that may cause you sick. Bacterial transfer can happen almost immediately. Although the floor may look really clean, it can harbor plenty of microbes that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Therefore, it is safe to throw the food away to reduce the risk of food poisoning.

 

2. Taste a little bit of the batter before baking is safe.

Batter typically contains raw eggs and wheat flour. Eggs have been repeatedly associated with Salmonella outbreaks. Wheat flour on the other hand, has been implicated with both pathogenic E. coli and Salmonella spp. outbreaks. Therefore, it is safe not to taste the batter before baking it.

 

3. Remove moldy part of bread before consuming the rest.

Molds may appear as white, yellow, green, gray or black fuzzy spots on bread. Some molds produce mycotoxins that can cause illness and even death in humans. Scraping off the moldy parts of the bread does not make the rest of the bread is safe to eat. Therefore, moldy bread must be discarded to avoid food poisoning.

 

4. Leave frozen meat in the sink for thawing.

Thawing frozen meat in the sink (with or without water) is not safe because the temperature of the meat will equilibrate to room temperature. Raw meat may contain foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7, which grow very well at room temperature. Therefore, frozen meat must be transferred from the frozen section to the refrigerated section overnight before cooking.

 

This article is prepared by Dr. Nurul Hawa Ahmad. She is the interim research associate at the Laboratory of Food Safety and Integrity, ITAFoS. She is also a senior lecturer at the Food Science Department, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, UPM. Email: nurulhawa@upm.edu.my

Date of Input: 03/11/2025 | Updated: 03/11/2025 | noordiana