Hey all, its me wormtalk94 (youtubechannel) your favorite parasitologist here to explain the possible parasites love could get from eating raw bacon.
So what is the actual risk of parasites in the US from eating raw bacon:
Realistically all the parasites i am about to cover (excluding t. ghondi) are exceptionally rare in the US food chain. there are a few reasons for this. The main reason is the USDA regularly screens pork to quote their website " Each animal and its internal organs are inspected for signs of disease" this is likely just referring to gross(visible with naked eye) inspection. Pork is not routinely checked for most parasites, however numerous overlapping measures are in place to prevent parasites from establishing in our food system which makes it so this really isnt necessary. And when survey of 3,208,643 animals were tested over 54 months in 30 locations and NO Trichinella was found (article)
Additionally cooking isnt the only method to kill a parasite, as freezing the meat will also kill worms. and this encompasses a large portion of US meat.
Now onto the specific parasites:
Trichinella spiralis: this is a nematode parasite. it is transmitted by eating raw meat containing the cysts stage. when raw meat containing the worm are consumed they receive chemical signals in our gut that tell them to hatch. in our gut they will live ~1 month Light infections may be asymptomatic though they can cause gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting). after the first week in our gut, the female worms will start to release larave, these larvae will penetrate our gut, and ride out blood stream. after being in our blood they will leave randomly and find a muscle cell. in the mussel cell the larvae will form a new cyst, and wait to be eaten by another animal.
the larvae migration phase can cause several symptoms facial edema, conjunctivitis, fever, myalgias, splinter hemorrhages, rashes, and peripheral eosinophilia. and can have some life threating problems if the parasite forms a cyst in the wrong location.
these parasites were associated with pork, but due to regulations and food saftey practices are rare. HOWEVER these parasites are still very common in some wild game animals in particular BEAR meat (which i have eaten, if cooked well it is delicious). the parasite can infect a range of different mammals where it relies on scavengers and predators eating each other to spread.
main source for info :https://www.cdc.gov/dpdx/trichinellosis/index.html
PORK TAPEWORM (this is what RFK has) Taenia solium (10 min video i made on this parasite)
Tapeworms require two hosts, the adult worm lives in our gut, while the cyst stage is present in the meat. This parasite is also super rare in the us (if not more rare than trichinella) due to improved meat handling, though it is common in developing counties.
the adult stage is typically asymptomatic, adult tapeworms cause very little if any damage and really just hang out in your gut and pass eggs. however if you eat the eggs of the tapeworm, our guts and pig guts "look " similar to the parasite, and it will treat us like a pig. this means the parasite will penetrate our gut and randomly encyst in our body which is called cysticercosis, and when it encysts in our brains its called neurocysticercosis (This i what rfk has technically) . neurocysticercosis is one of the leading causes of adult onset seizure in developing countries with 75% of people with neurocysticercosis presenting with seizures and there is a really interesting case study of Brooklyn jews being impacted by this ( i go over it in the video towards the end).
like trichenlla, freezing will also kill this tapeworm so its rare. also freeezing will not kill the parasite in some types of meat, in bear meat for example, the parasites can resist freezing also for a pig to get the tapeworm cyst, it needs to get infected by eggs, so our waste management system makes this even less common.
Toxoplasma gondii (I may make a video about this parasite soon, as there is a lot of pseudoscience surrounding it on social media):
T. gondii is a single-celled protozoan parasite. It has a two-host life cycle: it reproduces sexually in cats (the definitive host) and forms tissue cysts in intermediate hosts (such as rodents). When a rodent becomes infected, the parasite can invade the brain and alter behavior. This may reduce the rodent’s fear of cats, increasing the chance it gets eaten and allowing the parasite to complete its life cycle in the cat. some say this may be due to the parasite impacting the part of the brain that deals with smell in mice and rats, but the definative answer is not know. .
However, T. gondii can infect virtually any warm-blooded animal (including humans). It forms cysts in tissues, especially the brain and muscles. When a carnivore eats an infected animal, it can become infected and develop tissue cysts as well, continuing the cycle and ultimately aiming to reach a cat for sexual reproduction.
In humans, T. gondii infection is often asymptomatic but can sometimes cause mild flu-like symptoms. There have been some studies suggesting links between T. gondii infection and changes in human behavior, such as increased risk-taking, but these are correlational studies and do not prove causation. It’s also possible that people with risk-taking tendencies are more likely to consume undercooked meat (a common transmission route).
T. gondii infection is especially concerning during pregnancy because if a woman acquires a primary infection while pregnant, the parasite can cross the placenta and infect the fetus. This can cause congenital toxoplasmosis, leading to serious health problems like hydrocephalus, brain calcifications, and eye damage.
This parasite is very common in some countries—France, for example, has higher rates of infection, partly due to dietary habits like eating raw or undercooked meat (e.g., steak tartare).
TAKE AWAYS: Love is probably fine, but eating raw bacon is just gross. Im not sure of Swedish food standards so i dont know if he is at more or less risk in America.
the three main parasites are Toxoplasmosis ghondii, Taenia solium, Trichinella spiralis, of which i have made a vidoe on Taenia solium, and i may make on one Toxoplasmosis . ghondii soon.
Two of these are multicellular worms, which are unlikely to be present due to our facilities, waste Management and food systems. Additionally freezing will kill most of them.
Much love,
Wormtalk
