The Disturbing & Disgusting Reasons Idahoans Shouldn’t Eat Undercooked Bacon

Bacon is beautiful. 

Idahoans bring on the bacon breakfast, lunch, and dinner, baby. Cozied up next to over-easy eggs and pancakes, atop a toasted midday BLT, or crumbled over a sophisticated bed of fresh salad, bacon makes life worth living.

Even our vegan friends can't deny the tasty goodness of meat frosting. Albertsons carries an entire line of vegan bacon. 

How do you like your bacon, Idaho?

On a scale of 1 (raw) to 6 (ash), we're a 4/5. It's crispy enough that you can snap it with the tip of your tongue, but not so crispy that you confuse it with Meemaw's remains. But that's our bacon truth. 

We've shared many a meal with friends, family, and coworkers who take their bacon damn-near alive. Light pink and jiggly, their bacon spends less time frying than a felon on Death Row. Pardon us, but rare bacon gives us the icks and the sicks, and for good reason. 

Pig Parasites: they're what's for dinner. 

Let's get straight to the point: undercooked bacon is a health hazard. Raw and ultra-rare bacon is a hotbed for Trichinella, a harmful parasite that can lead to brain tapeworms. 

BRAIN TAPEWORMS 😳

These tapeworm-producing parasites live in porcine muscle tissue. When a person eats undercooked bacon, they ingest larvae that make themselves at home in human muscle tissue, resulting in trichinellosis. 

How do you know if you have pig poisoning?

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says Idahoans can get trichinellosis from eating raw and undercooked bacon just once! Symptoms include muscle pain, swelling and pressure around the eyes, and sometimes even more severe complications like heart and respiratory issues. 

Bacon responsibly, Idaho. 

If not, you could end up like the 52-year-old Florida man who inspired this article. He made national headlines back in March when doctors discovered a parasitic tapeworm that had been living in his brain for about four months. 

A big fan of undercooked bacon, the man narrowly avoided neurosurgery and was treated with a serious round of steroids and anti-parasitic agents. 

So, next time you're makin' bacon, make sure it's cooked. 

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