Risky or Not?

A short podcast about everyday risks from germs

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A square photo shows a crusty spoon resting in a cocoa powder container. The spoon is stained with dried hot chocolate mix and milk. Nearby, a mug of hot chocolate sits on a textured surface, capturing a cozy, slightly messy moment in making the drink.

754. Reusing a Hot Chocolate Milk Spoon

April 04, 2025 by Don Schaffner

The image shows a used spoon crusted with dried hot chocolate mix and milk, sitting inside a container of cocoa powder. It looks messy and realistic, as if it was just used to stir chocolate milk and then carelessly returned to the container. A nearby glass of chocolate milk completes the scene.

Dr. Don - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Professor Ben - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from reusing a hot chocolate milk spoon.

  • Eat or Toss? Is it OK to eat?
  • Time to B. cereus about hot chocolate - PMC
  • Estimation of human dose of staphylococcal enterotoxin A from a large outbreak of staphylococcal food poisoning involving chocolate milk - ScienceDirect
  • Understanding and Controlling Microbiological Contamination of Beverage Dispensers in University Foodservice Operations
  • Profiling Bacillus cereus populations in a traditional style, hot-drinks vending machine and vended hot chocolate drink using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) techniques - ScienceDirect
April 04, 2025 /Don Schaffner
Milk, Chocolate, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus

A festive scene with a plate of cookies, one bitten, and partially drunk milk left for Santa, alongside carrots for the reindeer. Warm light from a fireplace and Christmas decor, including a tree and stockings, set a cozy ambiance. In the background, Santa is glimpsed departing the room.

711. Leaving Cookies and Milk Out for Santa

December 25, 2024 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of leaving cookies and milk out for Santa, and carrots for his reindeer.

Dr. Don - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Professor Ben - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

  • How To Celebrate The Winter Solstice
  • How does Santa make it around the world in one night? | HowStuffWorks
  • Is Santa Claus immune to COVID-19? - YouTube
  • Immunologists convinced Santa has a great immune system - News & Events | Trinity College Dublin
December 25, 2024 /Don Schaffner
Milk, Cookies, Santa, Time temperature control for safety food

The image depicts a doctor in a white coat and stethoscope, holding a container of expired pasteurized milk with a puzzled expression. Behind them, on a clean kitchen counter, lies an open yogurt-making manual alongside utensils, suggesting a potential plan to repurpose the milk creatively despite its expiration.

708. Expired Pasteurized Cows Milk Used for Yogurt

December 18, 2024 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from using expired pasteurized cows milk used for yogurt.

Dr. Don - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Professor Ben - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

  • 563. Chris's Yogurt Without Heating โ€” Risky or Not?
  • 128. Milk on the Counter Over Night โ€” Risky or Not?
  • Foods Near the End of Their Shelf Life - Consumption Recommendations | Consumer Food Waste Community of Practice | Connect
  • Staphylococcus aureus Toxin Formation in Hydrated Batter Mixes
December 18, 2024 /Don Schaffner
Yogurt, Shelf life, Expiration dates, Use by dates, Milk

DALLยทE - 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.

617. HPAI in Pasteurized Milk

May 20, 2024 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in pasteurized milk.

Dr. Don - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Professor Ben - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

  • EPI-WIN
  • How CDC is monitoring influenza data to better understand the current avian influenza A (H5N1) situation in people | Avian Influenza (Flu)
  • Emergence and interstate spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) in dairy cattle
  • Bird Flu Highlights Concerns Around Raw Milk - The New York Times
  • Early Release - Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Clade 2.3.4.4b Virus Infection in Domestic Dairy Cattle and Cats, United States, 2024 - Volume 30, Number 7โ€”July 2024 - Emerging Infectious Diseases journal - CDC
  • The surprising physics of catsโ€™ drinking | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Experiment (100x slower) - YouTube
  • Cutta Cutta (67x slower) - YouTube
  • Virginia Tech, MIT, Princeton collaborate on cat study that shows intriguing gravity issues
  • How Cats Lap: Water Uptake by Felis catus | Science
May 20, 2024 /Don Schaffner
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI, Viruses, Milk, Pasteurization

DALLยทE - a mad scientist making yogurt

563. Chris's Yogurt Without Heating

January 15, 2024 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of making yogurt at home without first heating the pasteurized milk.

Dr. Don - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Professor Ben - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

  • Yogurt - Wikipedia
  • How To Make Yogurt at Home (Easy Step-by-Step Recipe) | The Kitchn
  • WSU Extension | Yogurt Made Simple
  • NC State Extension - Troubleshooting Yogurt
  • National Center for Home Food Preservation | Yogurt


January 15, 2024 /Don Schaffner
Yogurt, Milk

309. Adding Milk to Yogurt to Make More Yogurt

June 01, 2022 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of making yogurt by adding milk to yogurt to make more yogurt.

Dr. Don - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Professor Ben - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Dr. and Mrs. Danyluk - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

  • Protested game - Wikipedia
  • Landon Conover #Vaccinated on Twitter: "I don't know if this is really a thing, but for me, the more important canonical question is: Adding milk to yogurt to make more yogurt, #RiskyOrNot? @bugcounter and @benjaminchapman" / Twitter
  • Yogurt, cultured fermented milk, and health: a systematic review | Nutrition Reviews | Oxford Academic
  • A 100-Year Review: Yogurt and other cultured dairy products - ScienceDirect
  • Creamy Homemade Yogurt Recipe - NYT Cooking
  • Modeling of the Competitive Growth of Listeria monocytogenes and Lactococcus lactis in Vegetable Broth | Applied and Environmental Microbiology
  • ComBase
June 01, 2022 /Don Schaffner
Yogurt, Milk, Fermentation, Lactic Acid Bacteria

256. Sniffing Milk Instead Using Expiration Dates

January 28, 2022 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of sniffing milk instead using expiration dates.

Dr. Don - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Professor Ben - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

  • Morrisons scraps use by dates on milk in favour of sniff test | News | The Grocer
  • Short communication: Bacterial ecology of high-temperature, short-time pasteurized milk processed in the United States - ScienceDirect
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a cause of infectious diarrhoea - PubMed
  • Identification and Pathogenic Potential of Clinical Bacillus and Paenibacillus Isolates - PubMed
January 28, 2022 /Don Schaffner
Milk, Shelf-life, Spoilage, Smell
135.png

135. Coffee (Or Tea) With Milk on a Mug Warmer for 6 Plus Hours

April 21, 2021 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of keeping coffee (or tea) with milk on a mug warmer for 6 plus hours.

Dr. Don - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Professor Ben - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

  • Cortex - Relay FM
  • Relay FM
  • FSIS Salmonella Compliance Guidelines for Small and Very Small Meat and Poultry Establishments that Produce Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Products and Revised Appendix A | Food Safety and Inspection Service
  • I like my sugar with coffee and cream - YouTube
  • Emberยฎ: The Worldโ€™s First Temperature Control Mug
  • ComBase Perfringens Predictor
  • CB Premium
April 21, 2021 /Don Schaffner
Milk, Mug, Warmer, Ember
128.png

128. Milk on the Counter Over Night

April 05, 2021 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from leaving milk on the counter over night.

Dr. Don - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Professor Ben - not risky ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

  • pandasPause on Twitter
  • Casey Neistat - Wikipedia
  • Allen Pike on Twitter: "@atpfm I laughed so hard at โ€œWho the hell is Caseyโ€ that I had to pause the podcast
  • Casey Liss (@caseyliss) / Twitter
  • ComBase
April 05, 2021 /Don Schaffner
Milk, Temperature

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