10 Things You Should Never Order In Restaurants, By Experts

Normally, it’s pretty easy to pick out the foods which will give you food poisoning - for instance, doner meat from late-night vans, or warm prawns at wedding buffets.

But there are some less obvious ways to make yourself violently ill - from digging into those tempting free bar snacks, to choosing a salad with beansprouts.

We’ve compiled some of the most persuasive - and disgusting - advice from food poisoning experts, and from food-service employees discussing their worst ‘problem’ dishes.

Anything with ice

Ice machines in many restaurants aren’t exactly hygienic, restaurant staff reveal - with some really alarming things to be found in them.

One Reddit user who worked in a coffee shop wrote, ‘ Once found a dead spider and mildew in the ice maker. I cleaned that thing weekly from then on. I get nervous getting ice from places now.’

Others said that ice cubes from fast food joints can sometimes taste like grease - having been made in a kitchen next to the deep fat fryer.

Beansprouts

They might look healthy, but in America, raw and lightly cooked sprouts have been linked to more than 30 serious bacterial food poisoning incidents in the last 20 years.

Bill Marler, a lawyer specialising in food poisoning cases, says ‘There have been too many outbreaks to not pay attention to the risk of sprout contamination. Those are products that I just don’t eat at all.

Free bar snacks

Being offered a free bowl of peanuts with your drink can seem almost irresistible - but it might pay to be cautious.

In some establishments, the snacks are recycled if people don’t eat them -well, they are free, after all - meaning they can be a magnet for bacteria from other customers..

One barman on Reddit said, ‘Don’t eat the olives on the bar. Just don’t.’

Soup

If you’ve ever tasted soup in a restaurant, and thought, ‘It’s a bit salty,’ you should worry.

Restaurant staff warn that soup often stays on the stovetop for a long, long, long time - and one of the warning signs that you’re dealing with antique fluid is that it’s too salty.

One Reddit user said, ‘There’s a lot of red flags when it comes to soup, and I love me some soup. If it’s real salty you know it’s been on the heat all day.

‘If it’s watery, they just added cream/water to it. If it’s thick, it’s been on too long.’

Dishes you cook yourself

Dishes you cook yourself - such as Korean barbecue - make it seem like you’re in control of your dinner.

But sometimes the raw meat is poorly handled - and you might be coming in close contact with other people’s fluids.

Peter Chastain, executive chef and owner of California’s Prima Ristorante, told Reader’s Digest, ‘Braised food from a steam table is fraught with peril—sneezing customers, improper cooking.’

Toasted sandwiches

Sandwich shop employees warn against the toasted options - as you might not be getting the freshest ingredients.

One Reddit user said, ‘If a sandwich shop asks if you want it toasted before they begin making it, it’s so they can use day-old stale bread. ‘

Calamari

Foods which are handled directly by junior staff can be a good way to come in contact with fluids you’d really rather not be in contact with.

One Reddit user said, ‘I have fears about calamari. Worked at three places where the dishwasher always scooped the tentacles out of the gooey white batter

‘These were busy restaurants and in most cases the dishwashers didn’t have the time or common sense to wash their hands.’

Burgers

Food poisoning expert Bill Marler said that ordering burgers anything less than well done simply isn’t’ worth the risk.

‘Marler says, ‘The reason minced products are more problematic and need to be cooked more thoroughly is that any bacteria that’s on the surface of the meat can be ground inside of it.

‘If it’s not cooked thoroughly to 160°F throughout, it can cause poisoning by E. coli and salmonella and other bacterial illnesses.’

Salad

Anything which is assembled by hand, and not cooked, is a good way to come in contact with what’s on other people’s hands, which may not be very pleasant.

One Reddit user said, ‘I used to work at a restaurant. The worst things you could order were generally anything that involved a lot of being touched by hands, Sandwiches, salads, etc. Hygiene wasn’t enforced as much as it should be and we didn’t often get the time to regularly clean our hands anyway.

That weird dish at the bottom of the menu

If you’re an adventurous diner, and your eye’s usually drawn by the more exotic items at the bottom of the menu, watch out.

If you’re ordering something which doesn’t get ordered often, you can often be eating food which isn’t exactly at its best.

One Reddit user said, ‘Something I learned personally as someone raised around kitchens- unpopular ingredients are turned over less so you’re more likely to get something that was sitting around. Perhaps it’s maybe even a little bad - or it’s already been picked over.’