To truly understand why Ron Simon eats the way he does, one must look beyond the sterile walls of a courtroom and peer into the real, human tragedies that have defined his three-decade career. As a prominent food safety attorney and the founder of Ron Simon & Associates, a national law firm dedicated exclusively to representing victims of foodborne illnesses, Simon has spent over thirty years translating microscopic pathogens into deeply human stories. He has sat across kitchen tables from parents whose children were fighting for their lives in intensive care units, read through thousands of pages of heart-wrenching medical records, and taken depositions from food industry executives who prioritized corporate profits over public safety. Currently representing hundreds of victims caught in the crosshairs of a massive and highly disruptive cyclospora outbreak, Simon has developed a profound, firsthand appreciation for the delicate boundary between a delicious meal and a life-threatening medical emergency. Over the years, the patterns of neglect and biological vulnerability that he has uncovered in his legal work have inevitably seeped into his own personal life, fundamentally altering how he views his local grocery store and what he chooses to serve his family. By reviewing the intricate investigative reports of major Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria outbreaks, Simon has come to understand that many foodborne illnesses are entirely preventable, often boiling down to a single, critical error in preparation: the omission of heat. This professional realization has led him to establish a strict personal dietary code, identifying five specific foods that he refuses to touch under any circumstances. Through sharing his personal list, Simon does not seek to induce unnecessary panic or strip the joy from dining, but rather to empower everyday consumers with the practical, hard-won knowledge that could save them from the agonizing suffering he witnesses daily in his practice.
At the very top of Simon’s list of avoided foods is raw, unpasteurized milk and its derived dairy products, a category of food that has paradoxically gained a massive, cult-like following among health-conscious consumers in recent years. Promoted heavily by wellness advocates as a pristine, enzyme-rich, and nutritionally superior alternative to standard dairy, raw milk is often marketed with bold claims of curing allergies and improving gut health. However, Simon emphasizes that modern scientific consensus and rigorous laboratory testing simply do not support these lofty and potentially dangerous assertions. The process of pasteurization—which involves briefly heating milk to a specific temperature to eradicate harmful microorganisms—does not meaningfully degrade the beverage’s fundamental vitamins, minerals, or proteins, but it does serve as an indispensable public health barrier. Without this vital thermal intervention, raw milk remains a highly volatile substance, frequently harboring dangerous strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter, and Salmonella. For Simon, the legal cases involving raw dairy are among the most emotionally taxing, as they disproportionately affect young, innocent children whose parents genuinely believed they were offering them a wholesome, natural lifestyle choice. Instead, these children are sometimes exposed to pathogens that trigger hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a catastrophic medical condition that aggressively attacks the red blood cells and can permanently destroy a child’s kidneys, forcing them onto lifelong dialysis or requiring organ transplants. Furthermore, Listeria is a particularly insidious pathogen that thrives in cold refrigeration temperatures, making raw milk and soft raw cheeses a persistent hazard. In his decades of litigation, Simon has seen families shattered by the physical and financial toll of these entirely preventable infections, leading him to conclude that no romanticized ideal of agrarian purity can ever justify the immense, life-altering risks of consuming raw dairy.
The second item on Simon’s warning list represents another striking irony of the modern culinary world: raw sprouts, including alfalfa, bean, and clover varieties. While typically celebrated as the ultimate symbol of clean eating, vibrant health, and vegetarian vitality, sprouts are actually among the most frequent culprits behind widespread foodborne illness outbreaks in the produce aisle. The primary hazard lies in the unique botanical process required to cultivate them. The seeds themselves are often contaminated in the agricultural fields, where wild animals or contaminated irrigation water introduce pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli into the microscopic crevices of the seed coats. When these seeds are harvested and prepared for sprouting, they are placed into warm, highly humid, and wet environments for several days. Unfortunately, these exact tropical conditions are also the absolute perfect incubator for bacterial replication, allowing a handful of microscopic cells to multiply into millions of dangerous pathogens in an incredibly short period. Because the bacteria are embedded deep within the growing plant structure rather than just lingering on the surface, washing raw sprouts under the kitchen tap is completely ineffective at removing the microscopic danger. Simon points out that while thoroughly cooking sprouts destroys these hidden pathogens and renders them perfectly safe to eat, they are almost universally consumed raw as a crunchy addition to sandwiches, salads, and wraps. For this reason, Simon has completely eliminated raw sprouts from his personal diet, refusing to let an aesthetic garnish pose such a substantial threat to his gastrointestinal well-being. Additionally, tracing the origin of contaminated seeds is notoriously difficult for investigators, making it nearly impossible for regulatory bodies to guarantee their safety before they reach the consumer’s plate. By avoiding them entirely, he bypasses a notorious botanical breeding ground.
Moving from the produce aisle to the meat counter, the third food that Simon strictly avoids is raw or undercooked hamburger meat, a staple of backyard barbecues that carries a hidden structural danger. To explain this risk, Simon draws an important scientific distinction between a whole cut of beef, such as a ribeye or New York strip steak, and a ground beef patty. When a steak is harvested, any bacterial contamination from the slaughterhouse environment remains strictly on the outer surface of the meat. When that steak is placed onto a hot grill, the intense searing heat instantly obliterates those surface-level pathogens, meaning a rare steak presents a relatively low, manageable risk to the consumer. However, the process of making ground beef completely alters this safety dynamic. During the grinding process, the outer surfaces of various cuts of meat are physically chopped, blended, and folded together, effectively distributing any bacteria that was once on the outside throughout the entire depth of the resulting patty. If a hamburger is cooked to medium-rare, leaving the center pink and cool, any internal E. coli O157:H7 can easily survive the cooking process. Simon notes that this particular pathogen is incredibly potent; it takes fewer than one hundred individual E. coli organisms to cause severe hemorrhagic colitis, characterized by agonizing abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea. Compounding this danger is the reality of modern industrial meatpacking, where a single ground beef patty can contain meat blended from hundreds of different animals, vastly increasing the mathematical probability of contamination. Consequently, Simon never rolls the dice with a rare burger, always instructing restaurants to cook his ground beef thoroughly to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit, ensuring that any hidden pathogens are completely neutralized. For him, a well-done burger is a small price to pay for absolute peace of mind.
The fourth hazard on Simon’s list is raw eggs, an ingredient that quietly sneaks into many beloved comfort foods, culinary delicacies, and trendy restaurant dishes. From the nostalgic joy of licking raw cookie dough off a spatula to elegant summer salads tossed in homemade Caesar dressing, artisanal aioli, and raw eggs cracked directly into steaming bowls of ramen, raw poultry products are deeply woven into our culinary culture. The primary biological threat associated with eggs is Salmonella enteritidis, a bacteria that many consumers mistakenly believe is only present on the dirty exterior of the eggshell. Simon explains that modern agricultural research has revealed a much more insidious truth: Salmonella can actually reside deep within the egg itself, having been transferred directly from the infected ovaries of the laying hen before the shell was even formed. While a healthy, robust adult might endure a week of painful salmonellosis—marked by severe fever, vomiting, and dehydration—and eventually recover, the stakes are dramatically higher for vulnerable populations. For young children, pregnant women, senior citizens, and anyone with a compromised immune system, a Salmonella infection can easily transition from a temporary stomach bug into a life-threatening bloodstream infection requiring urgent hospitalization. Fortunately, Simon points out that consumers do not have to abandon their favorite recipes to stay safe; the grocery store offers pasteurized eggs sold in cartons or shells, which undergo a precise, low-heat water bath that kills the bacteria while leaving the egg’s culinary properties intact. In his own kitchen, Simon relies exclusively on these pasteurized alternatives, allowing him to enjoy the rich textures of egg-based dishes without exposing himself or his loved ones to a severe and preventable bacterial infection. He emphasizes that culinary romance should never supersede biological reality, especially when safe, modern food technology is so readily available to consumers.
The final item on the attorney’s danger list is raw oysters, a luxury seafood delicacy that Simon views as nothing short of a biological sponge for virulent marine pathogens. Because oysters are filter feeders, they survive by continuously pumping vast quantities of coastal seawater through their delicate respiratory and digestive systems, straining out microscopic organic matter and nutrients. In doing so, however, they also act as highly efficient natural concentration chambers, retaining and accumulating whatever pathogens are present in the surrounding water, most notably norovirus and the highly dangerous bacterium Vibrio vulnificus. Simon is particularly concerned by Vibrio vulnificus, an incredibly aggressive pathogen that, while relatively rare, can cause devastating bloodstream infections, severe wound necrosis, limb amputations, and death. This risk is especially pronounced for individuals with underlying medical conditions, such as liver disease, diabetes, cancer, or any form of compromised immunity. This specific bacterial species loves warm water, and once it enters the human bloodstream, it can cause septic shock with alarming speed, sometimes proving fatal within just forty-eight hours of consumption, and it can happen to anyone. Furthermore, Simon warns that the traditional, generations-old culinary wisdom advising people to only eat wild oysters during months containing the letter “R”—specifically September through April—has been rendered completely obsolete in the modern era. Due to global climate change and steadily rising coastal water temperatures, the geographic range and seasonal window for Vibrio proliferation have expanded dramatically, making raw oysters a year-round threat, regardless of the month on the calendar. Commercial harvest beds that were once considered too cold to harbor these pathogens are now experiencing seasonal blooms, leaving consumers exposed to unprecedented risks. For Simon, the only acceptable and responsible way to consume these shellfish is thoroughly cooked, whether they are grilled, fried, steamed, or baked into a classic oyster Rockefeller. Throughout his extensive legal career, he has witnessed too many vibrant lives cut tragically short or permanently altered by a single contaminated shellfish consumed during a celebratory vacation or anniversary dinner. Looking back across his thirty-year career at the intersection of law, medicine, and public safety, Simon’s overarching message to the public is not one of paralyzing fear, but of profound empowerment through knowledge and action. He firmly believes that the kitchen should be a place of joy, connection, and health, rather than a biological gamble. By choosing to apply heat to his food, Simon simply honors the fundamental laws of thermodynamics and biology that protect humanity from the microscopic world. His dietary rules demonstrate that making a few mindful, deliberate adjustments in our grocery shopping and dining habits can easily prevent a lifetime of medical regret. Ultimately, humanizing food safety means recognizing that every statistic in an outbreak report represents a beloved family member. By sharing his expertise, Simon hopes to inspire families to reclaim control over their health, proving that we do not have to be helpless victims of the food industry, but instead can be active, vigilant guardians of our own well-being and the safety of those precious lives we cherish most.
