Risky or Not?

A short podcast about everyday risks from germs

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The image shows a slightly older, balding Canadian professor with short blonde hair, glasses, and a short beard on a Brazilian farm. He looks nervous as he holds a tiny piece of raw milk Gouda cheese. Behind him are lush green fields, grazing cows, a rustic barn, and a Brazilian flag waving.

729. Eating Raw Milk Gouda Cheese in an Unregulated Brazilian Facility

February 05, 2025 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks that Ben faced when eating raw milk gouda cheese in an unregulated Brazilian facility.

Dr. Don - risky ☣️
Professor Ben - risky ☣️

  • Food Safety Talk
  • NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission Agricultural Leadership Development Program | NC State Extension
  • Gouda Recipe | Cheese Maker Recipes | Cheese Making Supply
  • Enumeration of Escherichia coli O157 in Outbreak-Associated Gouda Cheese Made with Raw Milk - ScienceDirect
  • Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infections Linked to Aged Raw Milk Gouda Cheese, Canada, 2013 - ScienceDirect
  • Multistate Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infections Associated with In-Store Sampling of an Aged Raw-Milk Gouda Cheese, 2010 - ScienceDirect
  • Escherichia coli O121 outbreak associated with raw milk Gouda-like cheese in British Columbia, Canada, 2018 - PMC
  • Microbiological Safety of Various Gouda Cheeses Produced from Raw Milk
February 05, 2025 /Don Schaffner
Cheese, Raw milk, Raw milk cheese, Brazil

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.

618. Raw Cheese Made With Milk Containing HPAI

May 22, 2024 by Don Schaffner

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 👍🏼

  • Cheddar Cheese as a Vehicle for Viruses - ScienceDirect
  • Poliovirus - Wikipedia
  • Interagency Risk Assessment for the Public Health Impact of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus in Poultry, Shell Eggs, and Egg Products (May 2010) | Food Safety and Inspection Service
May 22, 2024 /Don Schaffner
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI, Viruses, Raw milk, Cheese

DALL·E - Homemade halloumi cheese next a glass of milk with a picture of a goat

479. Homemade Halloumi With Fresh Raw Milk

July 03, 2023 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks making homemade halloumi with fresh raw milk.

Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼

  • Halloumi cheese: the product and its characteristics - PAPADEMAS - 1998 - International Journal of Dairy Technology - Wiley Online Library
  • Halloumi Recipe | Cheese Maker Recipes | Cheese Making Supply
  • Problems with Ultra Pasteurized Milk | Cheese Making Supply
  • 459. AI-Generated Recipes — Risky or Not?
July 03, 2023 /Don Schaffner
Halloumi, Cheese, Raw milk, Goats

404. Maggot Cheese (Casu Marzu)

January 09, 2023 by Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of eating raw milk maggot cheese.

Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼
Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼

  • "Casu Marzu" The world's most dangerous cheese Unpasteurized sheep milk + live maggots. Would you dare to eat it?
  • Casu martzu - Wikipedia
  • The secret resistance behind the world’s most dangerous cheese | The Outline
  • Master thesis, Food Safety Law, Unsafe Casu Marzu
  • MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly) DrugFacts | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
  • Sardinian dietary analysis for longevity: a review of the literature | SpringerLink
  • Production Under Controlled Conditions of “Casu Marzu” Cheese: Effect of the Piophila casei Colonization on Microbial and Chemical Composition of the Cheeses | Italian Journal of Food Safety
  • Intestinal Infestation With Maggots of the "Cheese Fly" (Piophila casei) | JAMA | JAMA Network
  • Urino-genital myiasis due to Piophila casei. - Abstract - Europe PMC
January 09, 2023 /Don Schaffner
Cheese, Raw milk, Insects

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