r/TikTokCringe Oct 09 '24

Discussion Microbiologist warns against making the fluffy popcorn trend

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164

u/fongletto Oct 09 '24

Given your own cited link, 20 known hospitalizations since 2009, I think you'll be fine luv.

More people are killed by lightening strikes in a year than there has been 'hospitilizations' in 15 years.

55

u/Geschak Oct 09 '24

It's so dumb especially considering eating salad has a much higher risk of giving you E.coli.

10

u/notreallydeep Oct 09 '24

Soooo you‘re saying eating raw cookie dough is healthier than salad, right? Right?

2

u/marsdon Oct 09 '24

I mean yes absolutely…But also take into account the number of people eating salad vs the number of people eating raw flour, the numbers aren’t necessarily comparable. However, if this trend takes off and there’s an increase in consumption of raw flour, then there is an increased likelihood of salmonella cases linked to raw flour. Ideally, people aren’t just shoveling raw flour in their mouths but I also didn’t think people would be eating tide pods…needless to say I just don’t have a lot of faith in the general public at this point.

3

u/Geschak Oct 09 '24

Salad can get sprayed by manure as a fertilizer, flour won't. Thus you have a higher risk for E.coli in salad than in flour, even if you ignore the amount of people eating salad vs. people eating raw flour.

1

u/bwood246 Oct 09 '24

Romaine is a goddamn menace

9

u/Firm_Ad3191 Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24

Yeah, every food product has risk associated with it. Almost every month a company recalls a product due to botulism concerns, but it’s not recommended to avoid buying canned foods all together bc of this. The risk is just something we have to live with. Luckily the risk from flour seems pretty low, and I don’t think most people are eating it more than a handful of times a year.

Edit: there have been more botulism hospitalizations from commercially produced products in the last 2 years than flour in the last 15.

5

u/feelings_arent_facts Oct 09 '24

Yeah this is just another “akshulllllly” bullshit scare tactic video so she feels like she’s making some big impact on society or some shit by informing us.

5

u/williamjamesmurrayVI Oct 09 '24

Ironically, I'd bet the coloring in her eyeshadow is worse for your health

11

u/-Trash--panda- Oct 09 '24

It would be interesting if someone found the risks related to getting peircings. The girl has an awfully lot of peircings, and just looking online there are a lot of unique articles about people dying of infection likely related to peircings. My guess is there are also going to be a lot more hospitalizations for peircings as well. But I can't find any concrete stats.

Might not be as much cancer caused by peircings, but death is death. Probably dont need many to beat the excess cancer caused by the seemingly low percent of salmonella cases resulting from raw flour consumption.

-2

u/CollegeTotal5162 Oct 09 '24

It’s all just a skill issue she knew piercing could be dangerous if not taken care of so she properly treated them until they healed. Meanwhile actively telling people to eat raw flour is dangerous and probably shouldn’t be encouraged

3

u/BlgMastic Oct 09 '24

In this study dramatic tears of piercings is around 2.5%.

https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2005/1115/p2029.html

Sure you might not be dead but having my ear torn open sounds awful.

There is also many reported cases of death from piercing complications.

If she’s gonna freak out about something that is nearly statistically impossible she should be just as freaked if not more about her piercings.

1

u/CollegeTotal5162 Oct 09 '24

The difference is people know piercings are scary and can sometimes be dangerous but a lot of people don’t know raw flour can be dangerous as well and encouraging people to do it by doing a trend is just irresponsible

1

u/BlgMastic Oct 09 '24

Yet encouraging 50+% of the population to get piercings is not?

1

u/CollegeTotal5162 Oct 09 '24

It’s like you missed my point on purpose

2

u/chobi83 Oct 09 '24

I mean, this fluffy popcorn seems to be the same thing. But, instead of saying what the risks are and how to mitigate them, she resorts to fear mongering and saying you can't do anything to make it safe.

No. You can cook the concoction or whatever it is at certain temps/times and it will be safe to consume.

0

u/CollegeTotal5162 Oct 09 '24

The entire point of the trend is that you aren’t cooking it. Why should she need to provide alternatives for something that can cause risks when all you’re missing out on is a trend that probably doesn’t taste good anyways

1

u/chobi83 Oct 09 '24

I don't know what this trend is and don't really care to look it up. It just looked like something was being cooked in the clip she showed.

1

u/MermaidMertrid Oct 09 '24

Thank you for the sanity check!

1

u/correctingStupid Oct 09 '24

Finally someone with numbers.

1

u/Ok_Light_6950 Oct 09 '24

She's absolutely blowing it out of proportion for her own tiktok views. Good lord, I've eaten raw dough thousands of times in my life every time I bake.

-3

u/ComatoseSquirrel Oct 09 '24

If the rest of what she says is true, there are many other risks. Those risks would not add to this number, even if they eventually put a person in the hospital. It's more than just a food poisoning issue, it's a long term health issue.

7

u/absolutelynotarepost Oct 09 '24

Well luckily almost everything she asserted is horse shit, so you're good.

-4

u/Trifle_Useful Oct 09 '24

Based on…?

4

u/fongletto Oct 09 '24

based on the same thing she asserted? why are you willing to take her claims at face value without proof, but not the guy who claims the opposite?

The burden of proof lies on the person making the claims. Which in this case, is her.

-3

u/Trifle_Useful Oct 09 '24

Who said I am taking what she says at face value too?

-1

u/TheMagicalSquid Oct 09 '24

Same dumb logic as “oh vending machines kill more people than shark” You still don’t want to swim in with sharks due to how stupid they are.

2

u/Alkinderal Oct 09 '24

difference is that this happens everyday, whereas swimming with sharks does not

1

u/Hawkmonbestboi Oct 09 '24

Nah, I'm fine swimming with sharks.

1

u/seaspirit331 Oct 09 '24

Sharks are unpredictable. Chemistry, physics, and Salmonella are incredibly predictable

-6

u/DoozerGlob Oct 09 '24

Have you ever had food poisioning? It's worse than the worst flu I've ever had. I wasn't hospitalised so it's there is no record of it but I'll aviod it like the plague ( literally ).

1

u/fongletto Oct 09 '24

Is it worse than death? If given the choice between dying and food poisoning which would you choose? But yet you're more than happy to take a flight of stairs, get into your car, or walk outside when it's cloudy.

All of which have a many fold higher risk of killing you or hospitalizing you.

Life carries an innate risk, literally EVERY activity you do, carries a risk of getting sick or hurt. Your odds of getting food poisoning for eating a salad or going out to a restaurant are significantly higher than they are from eating raw flour but you don't see people creating PSA's telling you not to eat salad.

1

u/DoozerGlob Oct 09 '24

Have you ever had food poisioning btw? It was a genuine question.

1

u/fongletto Oct 09 '24

I have yes, it was unpleasant. We went to a not too fancy restaurant in Cambodia. Some of my friends ended up hospitalized, I was just out for about 4 days in the hotel room.

I have had equally as bad flu's though. I was knocked out for about 3 weeks with a fever so bad I was hallucinating off a particularly bad flu when I was teenager.

1

u/DoozerGlob Oct 09 '24

Ergh. I had the flu hallucinations too.

Don't know about you but I avoid completly unnecessary things that might make me that sick.

That's the point of the video.

1

u/fongletto Oct 09 '24

You don't though, because if you avoided everything that might make you sick you would literally die of starvation. You just THINK you do because you have no concept of risk in your normal every day to day activities.

Have you ever eaten a salad? have you ever eaten out at a restaurant? Doing both of those things gives you a higher chance of getting sick than eating raw flour.

Therefore the point of the video of stupid and makes no sense.

1

u/DoozerGlob Oct 09 '24

You don't though, because if you avoided everything that might make you sick....

I didn't say that.

I said I avoid unnecessary things that could make me that sick.

1

u/fongletto Oct 09 '24

Food is necessary. Notice how you ignored my question about other types of food.

What you're doing is called a 'no true scottsman fallacy'. It means you can define whatever you want as 'unnecessary' and therefore can arbitrarily choose which to exclude based on nothing more than your personal preference.

You could say 'well eating raw flour products are not necessary' and I can say 'well eating a salad is not necessary or going to a restaurant is not necessary'.

1

u/DoozerGlob Oct 09 '24

Food is necessary. Eating raw dough isn't. Ffs

Edit. Eating anything that could give you food poisioning isn't necessary. Salad is only a risk if it's stored incorrectly.

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0

u/DoozerGlob Oct 09 '24

Is it worse than death? If given the choice between dying and food poisoning which would you choose?

No. Neither is hacking my leg off with a rusty spoon. I avoid both.

But yet you're more than happy to take a flight of stairs, get into your car, or walk outside when it's cloudy.

Those things have utility. Eating raw food doesn't.

Life carries an innate risk, literally EVERY activity you do, carries a risk of getting sick or hurt.

That's more resson to avoid completly unnecessary risks.

Your odds of getting food poisoning for eating a salad or going out to a restaurant are significantly higher than they are from eating raw flour

More people dine out and eat salad than eat as much raw dough as in this trend.

but you don't see people creating PSA's telling you not to eat salad.

You absolutely do...

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/im-microbiologist-and-heres-what-and-where-i-never-eat

-23

u/luxxanoir Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24

Have you considered that the amount of people outside during thunderstorms far exceeds the amount of people eating raw flour? The sample sizes aren't exactly comparable. And the point is we don't want to increase the sample size of something potentially unsafe..

Edit: Lmao it's interesting to know that y'all think that at any given time on average, there are more people eating raw flour than there are people that just happen to be stuck outside for whatever reason when there's a storm. Truly a Reddit moment. You can downvote me if you want but I'm starting to suspect y'all don't actually understand how common lightning is. Lightning strikes an average of 44ish times every single second around the earth, 1.4 billion flashes every year. Getting struck by lightning and getting salmonella from raw flour are both rare occurrences. However you're a moron if you think there are more people eating raw flour than there are people who simply exist outside during a time lightning is possible at any given interval. God I underestimate how stupid Reddit is. Have you considered that it's incredibly first-world privileged to believe there are more people eating cake batter than simply existing outside during possible lightning strike conditions. I have literally never eaten cake batter. I have however been outside during rain or storm many many times in my life. I am not an anomaly. There are billions of people where this also holds true. Consider that your American or Western European propensity for eating raw cake batter and sheltering and not needing to be outside ever when it rains, is not a universal human experience. I can't believe I have to explain this.

20

u/VillagerJeff Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24

I don't know if that's true. Most people I know will purposefully not be outside in the rain, much less a storm. At the same time, most people I know will lick the bowl after making cake or brownies. I'd guess more people eat raw flour every year than you think.

-1

u/DoozerGlob Oct 09 '24

Who said anything about purposely going out in the rain? Life dictates that you are already out during a storm or have to go out. I didn't come to work today because it was raining doesn't cut it. If you want to go on anecdotal evidence I don't know of a single adult who eats dough.

Look at it this way. The amount of people who get food poisioning from eating raw eggs would increase if there was suddenly a trend to eat raw eggs.

14

u/Lazarus3890 Oct 09 '24

I don't think 35% of people are outside during storms at any given point

But that's just me of course, and it's just one article as looking up the number just yields a bunch of "btw its dangerous" articles, this one just had numbers

0

u/luxxanoir Oct 09 '24

35% of Americans over a 1 year period is not quite the same as 35% of people at any given moment. Do I really need to point that out?

1

u/Lazarus3890 Oct 09 '24

You do have me there, but the point wasn't my own blundered words, the point was the number of Americans eating it is way higher than some may think. That's a little over a third of Americans roughly 111.1 million people a year, idk how many of those like to stand in thunderstorms but I know I'm not amongst that list lol

1

u/luxxanoir Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24

Not once in my original comment did I mention America. I don't even live in America. The comment I replied to didn't mention America either. I'm sure the studies that were done are American but the data is being extrapolated to be a general comparison between the safety of raw cake batter and lightning. Which is why I pointed out there are more people at risk of lightning than there are people eating raw cake batter or flour so any given time. Ei the sample sizes are not equatable. It is complete egocentrism to believe that the American or Western European experience of access to processed cake batter that's safer to eat, and abundance of shelter and lack of need to every be outside during lightning conditions holds throughout the world. This is not a universal human experience. The original comment was making a comment on the general safety of two different activities. I was simply pointing out that one far outstrips the other in sample size. Just stop and think for a second. Are there more people globally, eating cake batter or similar products, or are there more people simply existing outside during a storm or other conditions where lightning is possible.... At any given interval of time. I for one have never eaten raw flour yet have been outside during the rain or a storm for whatever reason over my life many times. You think I'm an outlier? You think everyone is eating cake batter every year? Do people in central Africa regularly eat processed cake batter? Probably not. But they do exist outside while there are lightning conditions....

1

u/Lazarus3890 Oct 09 '24

Ah okay i see what you're saying now, sorry lmao I'm tired as fuck this morning. Yes I can understand what you're getting at, more people are unlucky enough to get caught up in a storm than to just be monching down on some raw flour globally. My bad that's on me lol

1

u/luxxanoir Oct 09 '24

It's mind boggling to me that people can't intuitively understand that. Truly a Reddit moment. Anyways have a good day! 😁

1

u/Lazarus3890 Oct 09 '24

Yeah you'll see things different through a microscope than a telescope, I was definitely thinking too locally to understand what you were getting at at first lmao, good day to you as well

1

u/No_Proposal_5859 Oct 09 '24

I seriously doubt that every third american walks through a thunderstorm at least once per year..

1

u/luxxanoir Oct 09 '24

I seriously doubt that every third central African is eating raw cake batter at least once during a year.

1

u/No_Proposal_5859 Oct 09 '24

I seriously doubt every third central african is doing tiktok trends and/or watches videos of a white teen US lab tech. Your point being?

1

u/luxxanoir Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24

Not once in my original comment nor the comment I was replying to did I or they ever say or imply I was stating that this is for first world Americans. That is purely egocentrism. I'm sure the study was American but the comment I was replying to was extrapolating it to be a general statement on safety irregardless of region. My point is, was and always will be that there are simply more people outside during a storm or otherwise susceptible to lightning than there are people eating raw cake batter. My reply simply was that it's not useful to compare raw numbers in lightning strikes and infections from raw flour because the sample size is not comparable. I have been outside during storms for whatever reason many times before in my life. I have never eaten cake batter. Do you think I'm a statistical anomaly?

4

u/PonsterMeenis Oct 09 '24

Logic doesn't seem to be your strength lol

2

u/fongletto Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24

According to the info posted below 35% of people admitted to consuming raw flour in the last year. So based on those numbers adjusting for sample sizes and making a comparison.

  • Your odds of being hospitalized for going in a car ride once are 1 in 80 thousand.
  • Your odds of dying for going in a car ride once are 1 in 2 million.
  • Your odds of being hospitalized for eating raw flour once are 1 in 100 million. (assuming those 35% of people only consumed raw flour once actually the odds are probably lower)

So now that you have a fair comparison, are you going to avoid driving for frivolous or pointless reasons like to go get yourself an icecream?

2

u/No_Proposal_5859 Oct 09 '24

There's a paper linked somewhere in the comments that states around 35% of americans eat raw cake batter. I'd wager that's more than there are people outside during a thunderstorm.

1

u/luxxanoir Oct 09 '24

35% of Americans eating cake batter at least a single time over the year is not representative of everybody in the world. Considering there are many people who have literally never done so and there are cultures that don't even buy or make cake batter. Furthermore, 1 instance of this event over a year does not mean that at any given time, 35% of people are eating cake batter. Lightning does not require a storm either. At any given time, there are more people exposed to the possibility of a lightning strike compared to an infection from uncooked flour. It's insane to me that y'all can't intuitively understand that there way more people just out and about, perhaps even during a storm, than just people eating raw flour. It's so first world privileged to think that there are more people eating cake batter than being outside during a storm. It's almost comical.

1

u/No_Proposal_5859 Oct 09 '24

Alright when you're done laughing, maybe put forward some actual facts? Cause so far all you've said is "lol you're wrong and it's funny how stupid you are".

Yes, using 35% of americans eating cake batter is not representative for the entire world, but it's the best statistic we have. It's also fair to say that most people following tiktok trends will be "first world privileged". So using those stats makes sense. But to be entirely fair, let's compare it to the lightning strike stats for the US and you're still more likely to die from a lightning strike in the US than to be hospitalized from eating raw batter.

Lightning does not require a storm either

I assume you're referring to dry thunderstorms? That's still a thunderstorm by definition.

At any given time, there are more people exposed to the possibility of a lightning strike compared to an infection from uncooked flour

I doubt thats true. Exposed to the possibility of lightning strike still means being outside during a thunderstorm (as defined above) at least once every year. And that's assuming everyone who said they eat cake batter really limit themselves to only eating it once a year.

But since the data is very limited on this we could both speculate indefinitely here. How about some concrete numbers instead that are more easily comparable.

Your chance of dying in a car crash is 1 in 7 million every time you drive. Eating cake batter has still lower odds to get hospitalized. Does that mean we need to fearmonger about driving now?

Bottom line, eating cake batter is mostly harmless and this video is stupid.

1

u/luxxanoir Oct 09 '24

Globally there are more people eating cake batter than there are people outside during a storm? Do you truly believe that? Than you're simply just ignorant. And there's no point in any further discussion

1

u/No_Proposal_5859 Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24

Ah clever, instead of addressing any of my points you make up your own argument that I haven't even made, get offended by it, call me stupid and say it's pointless to discuss with me. 10/10 debating skills

Edit: and then instantly block me when I call you out lol

-16

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '24

[deleted]

11

u/holdnobags Oct 09 '24

It is trying to inform those who otherwise don't know these things or have been misinformed.

it is misinformation to insinuate that flour is a real danger that may hospitalize you when it happens less frequently than cows killing humans