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PODCAST

Risky or Not?

Don Schaffner and Ben Chapman

Risky or Not is a short podcast from Professor Ben Chapman from North Carolina State University, and Dr. Don Schaffner from Rutgers University. Dr. Don and Professor Chapman promise to do their best not to waffle, dither, dissemble or equivocate, and to give straight up answers about whether something is risky or not.

science life sciences

All Episodes

08:56

829. Betty Crocker Frosting Stored Out of Refrigeration

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/26

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of storing frosting that says “Cover and refrigerate leftover frosting up to 30 days” at room temperature after opening. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Justin Ekins on X: “@benjaminchapman @bugcounter would it be risky or not to store this Betty Crocker vanilla frosting out of the refrigerator for, say, 6 months after opening and then use it to frost a cake? https://t.co/k7NDNlSksq” / X Let Them Eat Cake | Chemical Engineering

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19:30

828. Vintage US Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs)

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/24

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of consuming “vintage” (i.e., old) MREs from around the world, but focusing in those from the US. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Meal, Ready-to-Eat - Wikipedia Ensuring the Safety and Quality of RTE Meals for U.S. Service Members | Food Safety Jeremy Zenlea | LinkedIn Army researchers dug into the effects of MREs on gut health, here’s what they discovered | Article | The United States Army Shelf-Stable Food Safety | Food

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19:12

827. Bloated Meat Packages

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/22

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of meat from puffy or bloated packages. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Basset Hound Bloat Chart 465. Kurtis’s Puffy Sausage — Risky or Not? Are “Bloated” Meat Packages Safe? We Asked a Food Safety Expert | The Kitchn TikTok - Always check your meat for this! Modified Atmosphere and Vacuum Packaging of Meat and Poultry Products: Food Reviews International: Vol 18, No 4 Advancing sustainability through modified atmosphere

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12:20

826. Ballpark Cheeseburger With Self-Serve Sticky Cheese

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/19

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from eating Ballpark cheeseburger made with with self-serve sticky cheese handled by others. Fedica text: Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Alexandria Aces Collegiate Summer Baseball Team in Alexandria, Virginia A Study of Staphylococcus Aureus Growth in Model Systems and Processed Cheese - MAGRINI - 1983 - Journal of Food Science - Wiley Online Library High Hand Contamination Rates During Norovirus Outbreaks in Long-Term Care

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17:39

825. Air Cooled Hard Boiled Eggs After a Week at Room...

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/17

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from eating air cooled hard boiled eggs after a week at room temperature. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 775. Coin in Cup for Freezer Safety After Power Outages — Risky or Not? FDA Food Code | FDA 210. Air cooled hard boiled eggs at room temperature — Risky or Not? 467. Rich’s Hard Boiled Eggs (With Bra Egg Bonus) — Risky or Not? Hard-Cooked Egg Shelf Life - ScienceDirect

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13:17

824. Drinking Horatio Nelson's Embalming Fluid Made...

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/15

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from drinking drinking Horatio Nelson’ embalming fluid made with brandy, with camphor and myrrh. Dr. Don - risky ☣️ Professor Ben - risky ☣️ Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson - Wikipedia Camphor overdose: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia Nelson: A Personal History: Hibbert, Christopher: 9780201624571: Amazon.com: Books Christopher Hibbert - Wikipedia

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12:52

823. Costco Free Food Samples

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/12

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from consuming Costco free food samples. Fedica text: Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Food Safety Talk Multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with in-store sampling of an aged raw-milk Gouda cheese, 2010 - PubMed Are Costco Samples Safe To Eat? Here’s What You Need To Know About Hygiene Practices Coronavirus outbreak prompts Costco to stop serving free samples

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17:23

822. Don's Rusty Shower Event

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/10

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of standing in a hotel bathroom in Athens Greece after a shower head explodes. Fedica text: Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Legionnaires disease in Athens 13th ICPMF About Legionnaires’ Disease | Legionella | CDC Legionnaires’ Disease - NYC Health CDC Providing a Home for Guests, not Legionella

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22:04

821. Consuming a Fly in Wine, Twice

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/08

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of Consuming a fly in wine, on two different occasions. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Food Safety Talk 327: You Got It In Two (Live from AFDO 2025) — Food Safety Talk Roderick on the Line - Merlin Mann Wines - 19 Crimes 159. Food, Once a Fly Has Landed on It — Risky or Not? Task Management Software Built For Pros - OmniFocus - The Omni Group 201. Bug in Your Margarita — Risky or Not? 513. 12 Flies in a Soda Dispenser —

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18:30

820. "Canning" an Unrefrigerated Low Acid Canned Food

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/05

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of using a beer canning line to package low acid canned food that will not be refrigerated. Dr. Don - risky ☣️ Professor Ben - risky ☣️ Chumbawamba - Tubthumping - YouTube Iron Heart Mobile Canning | The Leader In Quality Canning Death Wish Coffee Co. Announces Recall of Nitro Cold Brew Cans From Retailers, Online Sales | FDA WO2022082110A1 - C. bot prevention in coffee - Google Patents Canned coffee products sold under 128 coffee roaster names

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15:38

819. Storing Garlic Confit in Ben's Refrigerator for...

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/03

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of storing garlic confit at 37 °C (in Ben’s refrigerator) for two weeks. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Garlic-in-oil associated botulism: episode leads to product modification. | AJPH | Vol. 80 Issue 11 Botulism from Chopped Garlic: Delayed Recognition of a Major Outbreak | Annals of Internal Medicine Outgrowth and Toxin Production by Clostridium botulinum in Bottled Chopped Garlic - ScienceDirect Conservative Prediction

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13:12

818. Not Drinking 8 Glasses of Water a Day

Risky or Not? ·

2025/09/01

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks if you don’t drink 8 glasses of water a day. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Do you really need to drink water? Find out here | TikTok The Water Myth | Office for Science and Society - McGill University | Office for Science and Society - McGill University Effect of Coaching to Increase Water Intake on Kidney Function Decline in Adults With Chronic Kidney Disease: The CKD WIT Randomized Clinical Trial | Urology | JAMA | JAMA

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09:50

817. Going to the Beach With a Vibrio Alert

Risky or Not? ·

2025/08/29

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of going to the beach with a Vibrio vulnificus alert. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Department of Public Health alerts public to rare Vibrio vulnificus bacteria in coastal waters | Mass.gov About Vibrio Infection | Vibrio Infection | CDC Quantitative Risk Assessment on the Public Health Impact of Pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Raw Oysters | FDA

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17:34

816. Washing Produce With Just Plain Water

Risky or Not? ·

2025/08/27

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of just washing produce in plain water vs. a fancy gizmo. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Garrnish Pesticide Purifier: The Complete Fruit and Vegetable Cleaner – garrnish Pesticide Residue Monitoring Report and Data for FY 2022 | FDA Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program Questions and Answers | FDA Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program Reports and Data | FDA Removal of 16 pesticide residues from strawberries by washing with tap

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24:34

815. Radioactive Shrimp

Risky or Not? ·

2025/08/25

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of eating shrimp impacted by the recent recall. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 FDA Advises Public Not to Eat, Sell, or Serve Certain Imported Frozen Shrimp from an Indonesian Firm | FDA Walmart recalls its frozen shrimp in 13 states, citing potential radioactive contamination | PBS News Supporting Document for Guidance Levels for Radionuclides in Domestic and Imported Foods | FDA This fact sheet answers the most frequently

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21:29

814. Eating Dane's Raw Teewurst

Risky or Not? ·

2025/08/22

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from consuming teewurst that is made from raw meat which says that it must be cooked to 165°F. Teawurst Bain-marie - Wikipedia Microbiological risk assessment of viruses in foods Part 1: Food attribution, analytical methods and indicators Hepatitis E - Wikipedia Hepatitis E Hepatitis E Basics | Hepatitis E | CDC Reimar Johne: Microbiology H-index & Awards - Academic Profile | Research.com Teewurst | Local Sausage From Mecklenburg-West Pomerania,

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11:31

813. Squishing a Bug That Smells Like Maple Syrup

Risky or Not? ·

2025/08/20

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from squishing a bug that smells like maple syrup. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Maple syrup smelling bug Boxelder bugs | UMN Extension Heritage Minutes: Wilder Penfield - YouTube Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas | SCTV | Great White North: Canadian Education - YouTube Is Smelling Burnt Toast a Sign That You’re Having a Stroke? - HealthyWomen

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19:47

812. Soaking Cedar Planks for Salmon in Room...

Risky or Not? ·

2025/08/18

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from soaking cedar planks to be used for cooking salmon in water at room temperature. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 670. Cooking Salmon on Moldy Cedar Planks — Risky or Not? FDA Food Code | FDA Food Code 2022 | FDA Cutting Boards of Plastic and Wood Contaminated Experimentally with Bacteria - ScienceDirect Touch the wood: Antimicrobial properties of wooden and other solid material surfaces differ between dry and moist

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09:10

811. Raspberries at Room Temperature for About 28 Hours

Risky or Not? ·

2025/08/15

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of leaving raspberries at room temperature for about 28 hours. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Post by @batecho.bsky.social — Bluesky 707. Eating Fruit That’s Been Bitten by a Bat — Risky or Not? Pathogen Modeling Program (PMP) pH of Selected Foods Microbiological Surveillance Sampling: FY 19-23 Frozen Berries (Strawberries, Raspberries and Blackberries) | FDA Qualitative Risk Assessment Cyclospora cayetanensis on Fresh

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14:54

810. White Bread

Risky or Not? ·

2025/08/13

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from white bread. Dr. Don - not risky 👍🏼 Professor Ben - not risky 👍🏼 Katie Swanson | LinkedIn Evaluation and Definition of Potentially Hazardous Foods Paul Anthony Hall Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information Merle Pierson | Food Science & Technology | Virginia Tech group fitness instructors — THE WEIGHT CLUB Bacillus spore contamination associated with commercial bread manufacture - ScienceDirect Contamination profiles and

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