Eating Raw Meat: Is It A Safe Cuisine?

Anybody ranging from kids to adults are aware that eating raw meat is a no-no due to foodborne diseases such as the parasitic trichinosis. It doesn’t take everybody to study health science in Malaysia to know this precaution. 

Not every culture is averse to consuming raw meat. One of the prominent examples is the Inuit peoples in the Arctic and subarctic regions such as Alaska and Greenland, whose main diets are raw meats of wildlife such as seals, whales, caribou, and birds.

Maybe you are still curious about its effects. Maybe you decide to fill your stomach with a meaty experiment. Suppose you ignore the warnings by the health sciences and eat raw meat anyway, what will happen to your body?

Health risks

The obvious danger of eating raw meat is the high chance of being inflicted by food poisoning. Microorganisms live in the meat of animals, and every animal is a host to these microscopic units. Hours after death, the meat will become fertile grounds for other harmful germs, eventually reaching spoilage as long as it isn’t preserved immediately after extraction from a fresh animal.

Besides trichinosis, escherichia coli (E. coli) is a type of bacteria that lives in the intestines of healthy animals and ourselves. Although most strains are harmless, E. coli O157:H7 produces dangerous toxins in certain cattles and found their way into produce throughout manure, particularly when they are used as fertilizers or runoff into water, contaminating it. If the raw meat is simply in contact with the animals’ intestines, it can also be infected with the bacteria.

To people, E. coli O157:H7 can cause bloody diarrheas, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. It can be spread through infrequent or improper hand washing prior to leaving the bathroom. The diarrheal infections can cause Hemolyric Uremic Syndrome, a serious and sometimes fatal illness affecting the kidneys and blood.

Besides, other harmful germs include salmonella, clostridium perfringens, listeria monocytogenes and campylobacter. Salmonella is more common in poultry, especially chickens. The germs in raw meat can only be destroyed through proper cooking, and although cooked meat loses some vitamins and minerals, the protein is more easily digestible.

Some nutritionists promote the consumption of raw meat due to so-called positive health and nutritional benefits, but no such proof exists.

Raw meat dishes

Some examples of raw meat dishes include steak or tuna tartare, pittsburgh rare steak, mett and some types of sushi. They are more common in restaurants, but the existence of this certain type of cuisine does not indicate that raw meat is completely safe to eat. These dishes may sometimes have disclaimers of their risks upon consumption.

Raw meat dishes can also be prepared at home as long as the meat source is clean, such as fish fresh from retailers practicing food safety protocols and high quality cuts from local butchers.

What about Inuits?

You might still remember the passing mention of Inuits and question their practice. Wouldn’t a daily consumption of raw meat render them ill? 

The short answer is nope.

Inuits only eat meat that is either fresh from butchered corpses, which some can be taken to and cut at home, or frozen, their main method of meat preservation. Raw fish and animal blood are also eaten. Because of the few plant foods available and expensive imported foods, raw meat is not only a necessary staple diet to this day, it also keeps them warm and healthy in the snow. The meat’s fat provides much of their needed calories, and it itself is also an indirect source of carbohydrates. 

Some of their cuisines include akutaq (berries mixed with fat), bannock breads and the traditional suaasat soup, ladened with meats like seals and whales, as well as vegetables and seasonings.