One dies, three hospitalized after eating raw pork

[George FmplesdaCosteedback 1637]

Laab Moo should not be raw!

Come up to a hill tribe wedding, you will find it not only raw, but smothered in raw blood like in the OP picture. But you will see everyone stuffing it in their faces just the same and then they will smile at you with blood soaked teeth.

This is NOT Laab Moo, it is Laab Lert which is raw and the "gravy" (look at the picture) is made with pig's blood.

[Khon Kaen Dave 2765]

There was another thread on this suject a few weeks ago.The OP said that a Thai woman told him that the newest local village fad was eating raw pork dipped in Pigs blood. I wonder if she's still alive.

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly........

[dlm5star 48]

It would seem that the adherents of beliefs which avoid the consumption of pork might be on to something. I would also include those who avoid the consumption of shellfish.

lol. I've avoided shellfish for the past 5 years ever since a dodgy batch in Cambodia put me in the hospital.

Never felt so close to death.

[Foexie 246]

Nothing wrong with pork if you have a few brain cells and cook it well first. I wouldn't eat raw meat of any animal anywhere.

I eat raw meat all the time, beef jerky, smoked salmon, dry cured salami, prosciutto, speck, all perfectly safe as long as prepared correctly.

FYI all the food you just named inhere is not raw food anymore. it's preserved in some kind of way. The salting and the smoking "cooks" the meat and fish in some kind of way.

Raw means food as steak tartare or sushi or in this case laab leuat. Just been cut of the animal, maybe added some spices and some other things and then been eaten directly. No preservation or heating in any kind of way

[malcoml 448]

My wife ate a ten day old donut and once served me a sandwich complete with mold on the bread.

She dies however insist to me that Thai books are definitely cleaner.

[shawn000 68]

Nothing wrong with pork if you have a few brain cells and cook it well first. I wouldn't eat raw meat of any animal anywhere.

I eat raw meat all the time, beef jerky, smoked salmon, dry cured salami, prosciutto, speck, all perfectly safe as long as prepared correctly.

FYI all the food you just named inhere is not raw food anymore. it's preserved in some kind of way. The salting and the smoking "cooks" the meat and fish in some kind of way.

Raw means food as steak tartare or sushi or in this case laab leuat. Just been cut of the animal, maybe added some spices and some other things and then been eaten directly. No preservation or heating in any kind of way

FYI preserving is not cooking, which is defined as heating the food, your "some kind of way" is actually control of bacterial growth. And this dish is actually along the same lines, it has been sterilized with chili and garlic.

[tigermoth 607]

As a child growing up in NZ we were all taught the dangers of not cooking pork adequately. I used to go hunting with friends and the only pork we ever had was the pork we caught ourselves. As cruel as it may seem to many hunting pig was almost always with dogs and when shooting the trapped animal did not shoot to kill. The pigs throat would be cut to let it bleed out making the meat much safer and tenderer to eat.

[soalbundy 20306]

The girls will all be warned against eating pork now

[Rotweiler 515]

"RAW" pork, you mean. Yes, this is a sad case.

This thread as well as many posted here and in many SE Asian tourist sites, suggests that food in Thailand is likely to be bod. Food poisoning seems a regular complain of backpackers and suitcase tourists alike.

This requires some clarification:

According to the most recent data available from the CDC (2004), each year roughly 1 in 3.5 Americans (over 76 million reported cases) of food-poisoning are reported. Of those, approximately 325,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 died of foodborne diseases. More recent data from the CDC suggests this number has been climbing dramatically with current food poisoning rates over 1.5 million per year. [source: http://www.cureresearch.com/s/salmonella_food_poisoning/stats-country_printer.htm]

WebMD reports that food poisoning in the US costs $152 billion a year, kills 5,000 people, and sends 325,000 to the hospital each year. That is 15.3 deaths per million residents.

According to the US Federal Food Sately Commission (FDA), in 2003 there were 126,185 reported cases of food poisoning in Thailand, with 11 reported deaths. That is 0.15 deaths per million inhabitants. [source: The Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1013719576572770000]. This is up from 59,000 just 10 years ago, an increase primarily due to the increase in consumption of prepared foods.

The girls will all be warned against eating pork now

[Thaddeus 7544]

My wife ate a ten day old donut and once served me a sandwich complete with mold on the bread.

She dies however insist to me that Thai books are definitely cleaner.

An unfortunate couple of typos there I think.

And one word that never springs to mind when mentioning Thai cooking is, hygiene.

[Gutterboy 176]

Nothing wrong with pork if you have a few brain cells and cook it well first. I wouldn't eat raw meat of any animal anywhere.

'if you have a few brain cells'

And therein lies the problem.

[luckyman 333]

Nothing to do with pork, wether is was raw or not.

Millions have eaten laarb moo the past decades and often too and did not die so.....

More to do with basic hygiene and maybe the victim that died had a problem with his immune system already.

Could be poisoning as well, happens a lot here.

People that use drugs or drink alcohol regularly are way more susceptible to any bacteria as well.

Better wait for the full report from a certified coroner.

[luckyman 333]

This is NOT Laab Moo, it is Laab Lert which is raw and the "gravy" (look at the picture) is made with pig's blood.

I am a big fan of Laab Moo and eat it once or twice a week. I've had Laab Lert up country and it is tasty, but I like my meat cooked.

Some eat shellfish, I do not, others eat sushi, I do not. I have had the "Thai Trotts" a few times but not as often as from eating a curry in the UK.

Lert as in 'blood' in Thai is refering to added pork blood and has nothing to done with the rawness of the meat. That actually depends on the seller as some cook it longer than others.

However the blood may have contained bacteria that some people are highly allergic too.

I worked in a slaughter house as a kid and remember a collegue that every time he cut himself while preparing pork meat, he had to be raced to the hospital with a red stripe on his arm slowly creeping towards his heart area.

However, that does not explain what happened here in Nan at the home of a phoo yai ban and I assume that the deceased as well as the sick ones must have had this kind of food many times before.

Perhaps a poisoning that went wrong?

Better wait for more details from the coroner, if any...

[canuckamuck 30620]

This is NOT Laab Moo, it is Laab Lert which is raw and the "gravy" (look at the picture) is made with pig's blood.

I am a big fan of Laab Moo and eat it once or twice a week. I've had Laab Lert up country and it is tasty, but I like my meat cooked.

Some eat shellfish, I do not, others eat sushi, I do not. I have had the "Thai Trotts" a few times but not as often as from eating a curry in the UK.

Lert as in 'blood' in Thai is refering to added pork blood and has nothing to done with the rawness of the meat. That actually depends on the seller as some cook it longer than others.

However the blood may have contained bacteria that some people are highly allergic too.

I worked in a slaughter house as a kid and remember a collegue that every time he cut himself while preparing pork meat, he had to be raced to the hospital with a red stripe on his arm slowly creeping towards his heart area.

However, that does not explain what happened here in Nan at the home of a phoo yai ban and I assume that the deceased as well as the sick ones must have had this kind of food many times before.

Perhaps a poisoning that went wrong?

Better wait for more details from the coroner, if any...

Lot's of opinions about what it was. Just to clarify, this was a type of Laab that uses raw pork and raw blood. So it is technically a laab Moo, but not the type you will see in restaurants that serve cooked laab. Sure you can call it Laab Luut or blood laab. But that doesn't mean it was cooked. This is a raw meat dish. Eaten only by Darwin award contenders. Of which there appears to be many.

[moe666 5595]

It is called laab Moo Koy. My girl friends family killeda pig and she askedmeif I wanted it the way they eat it I said no cook mine please

[2fishin2 2065]

Nothing wrong with pork if you have a few brain cells and cook it well first. I wouldn't eat raw meat of any animal anywhere.

I eat raw meat all the time, beef jerky, smoked salmon, dry cured salami, prosciutto, speck, all perfectly safe as long as prepared correctly.

FYI all the food you just named inhere is not raw food anymore. it's preserved in some kind of way. The salting and the smoking "cooks" the meat and fish in some kind of way.

Raw means food as steak tartare or sushi or in this case laab leuat. Just been cut of the animal, maybe added some spices and some other things and then been eaten directly. No preservation or heating in any kind of way

FYI preserving is not cooking, which is defined as heating the food, your "some kind of way" is actually control of bacterial growth. And this dish is actually along the same lines, it has been sterilized with chili and garlic.

I cook fish without heat using lemon and lime juice.

[Johpa 2162]

Laab Moo should not be raw!

Come up to a hill tribe wedding, you will find it not only raw, but smothered in raw blood like in the OP picture. But you will see everyone stuffing it in their faces just the same and then they will smile at you with blood soaked teeth.

This raw meat dish, laap dip, is found at most Lanna Thai weddings, not just hilltribe weddings. I consider it to be one of the signature dishes of Lanna Land. It is not smothered in raw blood and having eaten it countless times, with little ill effect, I have never seen anyone with "blood soaked teeth" Now there is the raw blood, laap lue or laap luat, which is far less common to encounter and is considered more a macho meal for men who are drinking.

[canuckamuck 30620]

Laab Moo should not be raw!

Come up to a hill tribe wedding, you will find it not only raw, but smothered in raw blood like in the OP picture. But you will see everyone stuffing it in their faces just the same and then they will smile at you with blood soaked teeth.

This raw meat dish, laap dip, is found at most Lanna Thai weddings, not just hilltribe weddings. I consider it to be one of the signature dishes of Lanna Land. It is not smothered in raw blood and having eaten it countless times, with little ill effect, I have never seen anyone with "blood soaked teeth" Now there is the raw blood, laap lue or laap luat, which is far less common to encounter and is considered more a macho meal for men who are drinking.

We only have the macho dish up here I guess. Anyhow, I see it and I avoid it. So I will take your word on the variations of the theme. It is all an invitation for a hospital trip and I already have the T-shirt.

[slipperylobster 6443]

Most Thai food is not healthy, long term.!

Western food is the cause of obesity..back home.

[soalbundy 20306]

Most Thai food is not healthy, long term.!

Western food is the cause of obesity..back home.

American style fast food is the cause of obesity, much of the European food culture is in fact quite healthy, as with everything else, moderation is important. A Mediterranean diet is recommended by dietitians.Thai food in its pure form is healthy