A short podcast about everyday risks from germs
DALL·E - A nice aged piece of cheddar (?) cheese with a rich, golden-yellow color and a few holes, sitting on a rustic wooden board. Around the cheese, there are a few unhappy microbes.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of consuming raw milk cheese made with milk containing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A close-up of a clear glass filled with raw milk, placed on a wooden table. The milk looks cold and creamy. Surrounding the glass and within the milk are many happy microbes.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in pasteurized milk.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A refrigerated display case containing one package of ground beef. The ground beef package has a label that includes the words “The ground meats in this display have been produced using fresh and frozen meat”.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of thawing and refreezing meat multiple times.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A jar of pickles with a pork chop inside. A hand is reaching into the jar and pulling out the pork chop. The jar is transparent, filled with green pickles.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from eating pickles from a jar used to marinate raw pork.
Dr. Don - risky ☣️
Professor Ben - risky ☣️
DALL·E - A detailed illustration of a plate demonstrating the Waffle House marker system for orders. The plate features a standard breakfast setup with eggs… (note: this is total BS, DALL·E gets this completely wrong)
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the food safety risks of the Waffle House magic marker system.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E 2024-05-02 - A pair of stainless steel kitchen tongs being rinsed under a stream of very hot water, with steam rising from the contact. Nearby, a thermometer displays the temperature…
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of reusing poultry tongs after touching raw poultry that have only been rinsed under very hot (190 °F) water.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A first-person perspective showing a woman's hands rinsing a blender under a stream of steaming hot water at a kitchen sink.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of making smoothies in a blender carafe and rinsing with very hot and high pressure water but no soap.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - An outdoor restaurant under a bridge on a river, as seen from a passing boat. The setting includes tables and chairs neatly arranged… Lots of birds too
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from eating at a restaurant under a bridge at the San Antonio Riverwalk.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A dusty jar of pickled quail eggs sits on a shelf in a dimly lit country store. The jar is old and unlabeled. Behind it, slightly out of focus, is another jar with a skull and crossbones.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from eating unrefrigerated unlabeled pickled quail eggs from a country store.
Dr. Don - risky ☣️
Professor Ben - risky ☣️
DALL·E - A mysterious scene featuring a package full of gray powder in the foreground. In the background, a turkey appears worried, with its feathers slightly ruffled.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from receiving unexpected powder in the mail.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A French chef in a traditional white uniform, including a toque (chef's hat), is simultaneously cracking two eggs. In one hand the chef is cracking the egg on the side of the pan, and in the other hand they're cracking an egg on flat table… supposedly.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of breaking your eggs on something pointed versus something flat.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A poignant scene outdoors where a woman is giving direct mouth-to-mouth CPR to a baby rabbit. She is casually dressed without any medical equipment. Her cat looks on, ready to pounce.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of giving mouth-to-mouth CPR to a baby rabbit.
Dr. Don - risky ☣️
Professor Ben - risky ☣️
DALL·E 2024-04-21 - Two mature men, approximately 45 and 55 years old, wearing traditional academic regalia consisting of black gowns, caps, and hoods, shaking hands.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks posed by shaking hands.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A close-up image of a woman's clean hands using a vegetable peeler to peel an extremely dirty carrot safely over a kitchen sink, with minimal dirt on her hands
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of washing vegetables after peeling instead of before peeling.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A dark and ominous image showing a single small apple slice inside a tiny, translucent plastic bag resting on a kitchen counter.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of sending a kid to school with a cut apple that has already been to school the day before.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E 2 - An idyllic water reservoir scene depicted with a serene and peaceful environment. The lake is surrounded by lush greenery, and the water is remarkably clear but there is something shaped like a human body floating face down in the water.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of drinking water from a reservoir that had a body in it for a month.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
Image from the video linked below
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of eating a burger made with the bun touching the raw meat during cooking.
Dr. Don - risky ☣️
Professor Ben - risky ☣️
DALL·E - A clear glass electric kettle is placed on a kitchen counter. Inside the kettle, water is boiling vigorously, with visible bubbles and steam rising…
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of reusing electric kettle water.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
DALL·E - A clean-shaven man eating a big piece of very raw chicken. He looks very nauseous, with his eyebrows furrowed and a grimace on his face…
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of eating raw chicken every day.
Dr. Don - risky ☣️
Professor Ben - risky ☣️
Don wrote a small QMRA on this topic, available here https://go.rutgers.edu/rcQMRA
DALL·E - Imagine a kitchen scene where an open refrigerator is the focal point. Inside the refrigerator, the bottom drawer is vividly filled with an assortment raw meats sitting in salty water.
Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of brining meat in a refrigerator drawer without secondary containment.
Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼
I tried to get a little creative and I told DALL·E to hide the episode number 599 somewhere in the picture, but I couldn't find it. Then I asked DALL·E to indicate the number with a red arrow and this image was the result. If you can find the number in the original image, the first one to prove it to me via the contact us link gets to pick an episode topic!
