I was recently down in Florida on the Gulf Coast, golfing with my daughter and lounging on the beaches with her and my wife. We ate local fish every day for lunch and dinner.

Cobia, Snapper, Grouper, Snook and every kind of fish taco; but no raw gulf oysters, although they were offered on nearly every menu.

You see, there is a particularly lethal pathogen called Vibrio that is becoming more and more common in oysters, especially those living in the warming waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

These bottom dwellers act as filters, sifting the waters through their system and capturing any solids that may provide nutrition, including pathogens like Vibrio.

Vibrio is especially pathogenic in older males who like to consume adult beverages, attacking the liver and killing hepatic cells with more lethality than the hepatitis virus.

A guy working in a high level position for a company I used to consult for suffered Vibriosis after consuming raw oysters on the Gulf of Mexico and was in the ICU for several weeks. The end outcome was he was told he lost enough liver that he could not drink any alcohol the rest of his life.

So, when I looked at those menus I saw a possible choice of a half dozen raw oysters vs. abstaining for however many years I have left in me. Easy choice.

I don’t eat raw sprouts, either. Having been in those sprout growing facilities, I have no doubt the owners do their very best to produce pathogen free products, but the warmth and moisture provide such a conducive environment to growing not only sprouts, but also pathogenic bacteria that I just don’t take that chance.

I eat ground beef, but I am very fussy about handling it in the kitchen and cooking it to 160 degrees, which dries it beyond my like. So I found a product called “Burger Bomb” that I mix into the patty which helps.

But given a choice, I will grill a bison burger and just cook it to medium. I am not saying the risk from bison is zero, but just look at the bison record of recalls for E coli and it is pretty near zero.

Raw milk, never; not since we drank it at Grandad’s house back in the day.

I do like my egg yolks runny so I can dip my toast in them, and I know that is inconsistent with the science and public health warnings, but betting on an NCAA March Madness Brackett is also risky and maybe stupid, but I do both.

I don’t buy pre-cut fruits and veggies, but my wife does when I am not with her.

I cook my steaks to medium rare and don’t worry about whether or not they were blade tenderized. I think that label requirement is seriously misleading about the dangers of that practice; while again not zero risk but darned near zero.

What have I forgotten on the taboo list?

Oysters and other stuff I won’t eat

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