Ron Simon has spent over three decades prosecuting food poisoning cases, with his firm now representing hundreds of victims within the current cyclospora outbreak. His painstaking work has completely changed what he puts on his plate.

"I've prosecuted thousands of food poisoning cases over three decades. Read enough outbreak reports and depositions and you start eating differently. Here are five I won't touch," Simon, a food safety attorney and founder of Ron Simon & Associates, a national firm focused only on foodborne illness, told Newsweek.

Simon's firm handles cases involving E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria and other pathogens, and he said the patterns behind those illnesses have shaped his own grocery list. He named five foods he avoids, all of which share one trait—they are typically eaten raw or undercooked, removing the one step that kills most of the bacteria and viruses responsible for making people sick.

1. Raw Milk

The first is raw milk and other unpasteurized dairy products, which Simon said are often marketed as more natural or more nutritious than pasteurized versions, a claim he said the science does not support.

Pasteurization briefly heats milk to kill pathogens without meaningfully changing its nutritional content, he said, and it eliminates E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, Campylobacter and Salmonella.

Simon said raw milk drinkers are far more likely to get sick than those who drink pasteurized milk, with children bearing the worst of it. Some infections can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that can permanently destroy one's kidneys.

"There's no nutritional payoff that justifies that," he said.

2. Raw Sprouts

Second on his list are raw sprouts, including alfalfa, bean and clover varieties.

Despite their reputation as a health food, Simon said sprouts are among the most outbreak-prone items in the produce aisle. Contamination is usually present in the seed itself, and the sprouting process, which involves days spent in warm, humid water, creates ideal conditions for bacteria to grow.

He said cooked sprouts are safe, but he removes raw ones from his food.

3. Undercooked Burgers

Third on his list of no-go foods is raw or undercooked hamburger. Simon distinguished this from a rare steak, which he considers a reasonable risk. On a whole cut of beef, bacteria sit on the surface and are killed by searing, but grinding the meat spreads that surface bacteria throughout the patty. If the center does not reach 160 degrees Fahrenheit, any E. coli present can survive, and it takes fewer than 100 organisms of E. coli O157:H7 to cause illness.

He noted a single patty from some sellers can contain meat from many different animals, increasing the odds of contamination. Simon said he always orders his burgers cooked through.

4. Raw Eggs

Fourth are raw eggs, found in foods like cookie dough, homemade Caesar dressing for summer salads, aioli and raw eggs dropped into ramen. The risk here is Salmonella, which Simon said can actually be present inside the egg, not just on the shell.

While most healthy adults recover from salmonellosis within a few miserable days, he said the illness can be far more serious for young children, pregnant women, older adults and anyone who is immunocompromised or more vulnerable to disease.

Pasteurized eggs, sold in cartons and usable in any recipe calling for raw egg, eliminate the risk, and Simon said they are the only version he uses.

5. Raw Oysters

The fifth food on the attorney's danger list is raw oysters.

As filter feeders, oysters concentrate whatever is present in the surrounding water, including the bacteria Vibrio and norovirus. Simon said Vibrio vulnificus concerns him the most and other experts agree.

Infections are uncommon, he said, but for people with liver disease, diabetes or a weakened immune system, the infection can quickly turn into a bloodstream infection. He also said the traditional guidance to eat oysters only in months containing the letter "R" no longer holds, as warming coastal waters have extended the season during which Vibrio can thrive.

Simon said he only eats his oysters cooked.

All five foods carry risk for the same underlying reason, that they are typically consumed raw, and heat is the one reliable step that removes the danger. Simon's comments come as food safety experts continue to highlight how outbreaks tied to raw or undercooked products, from milk to shellfish, remain a persistent public health concern across the U.S. following several outbreaks.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Kara Dolman and Emma Lee-Sang