Experts caution that even foods commonly deemed “healthy” by Americans can carry significant risks of foodborne illnesses. Many specialists highlight salads, sprouts, and deli meats as everyday items they avoid.

A Seattle attorney with extensive experience in litigating major foodborne illness cases recently shared with The Washington Post that his preference for well-done burgers and steaks has puzzled chefs, leading them to question his choices.

“I explain my profession,” Bill Marler recounted. “It’s an occupational hazard.”

Marler has eliminated bagged salads, fruit cups, deli meats, ready-to-eat meals, and raw sprouts from his diet. These items are frequently used in sandwiches, salads, and wraps.

He noted that such foods have been consistently linked to cross-contamination and significant outbreaks of Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella.

While most diners view greens as a safe choice, Marler said he avoids them entirely when eating out.

Fox News Digital reached out to Marler for further comment — but several other experts said they agree. They added that the riskiest foods to eat may not be the ones consumers expect.

The list of problematic items reflects how outbreak patterns have shifted over time, Bryan Quoc Le, a food scientist with Mendocino Food Consulting in California, told Fox News Digital.

“Ground beef risks have decreased due to testing and cooking requirements, while leafy greens lack a ‘heat step’ and are known to become contaminated earlier in the supply chain, where controls are harder to enforce,” Le said.

Leafy greens are also centrally processed, mixed in huge batches and shipped across the country. 

That likely makes them the highest current risk, he noted. “A single contamination event can affect many people before it’s detected,” he said.

In the 1990s, hamburgers were seen as the biggest food safety threat, especially after a 1993 E. coli outbreak sent more than 170 people to the hospital and killed four children. 

But after stricter regulations and major safety improvements, illnesses linked to burgers dropped sharply, according to Jason Reese, an Indiana-based food safety expert and personal injury attorney who specializes in these cases.

Today, Reese noted, the danger has flipped. Lettuce and other leafy greens now cause far more outbreaks than hamburgers, largely because they’re grown near cattle operations, can be contaminated by irrigation water and are eaten raw with no cooking steps to kill pathogens. 

“The lettuce on top of those burgers is the culprit,” Reese told Fox News Digital.

He said he never eats salad or bagged lettuce while dining out. 

“Seeing the victims I’ve represented go into kidney failure and need dialysis for life just from one restaurant salad is eye-opening.”

“Most Americans don’t seem to think it will happen to them,” Reese added. “Yet the numbers don’t lie.”

About 48 million Americans get sick from foodborne illnesses each year — roughly 1 in 6 people — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), leading to an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. 

The agency notes the US food supply remains among the world’s safest, yet produce accounts for a significant share of cases, particularly norovirus, the nation’s leading foodborne illness.

The risk for young children, pregnant women, the elderly and immunocompromised people, is especially not “worth the gamble,” he said. 

New Jersey dietitian and former food safety inspector Tina Marinaccio agreed.

“Most Americans are completely clueless about what happens to their food before it gets to their plates,” she told Fox News Digital.

But Marinaccio disagreed with Marler’s opinion that steaks must be cooked well-done. 

“If you’re not immunocompromised or pregnant, get the rare steak,” she said.

E. coli would be killed on the surface during normal cooking, she said.

She added that the real concern is ground beef, where bacteria can be mixed throughout the meat and must reach 160 degrees Fahrenheit to be safe.

Despite the dangers, experts stress that many foodborne illnesses are preventable. 

Marinaccio said proper handwashing and better glove training are essential, as poor hygiene is one of the most common sources of contamination. 

Le added that fully cooking meats, treating bagged salads as higher-risk foods and cutting produce at home can significantly reduce the chances of getting sick.