Unfortunately you can't tell whether a food is contaminated with Escherichia coli (E. coli) by the way it looks, smells or tastes. Although most types of E. coli bacteria are harmless, certain strains can cause serious foodborne illness.

Foods that have been linked to E. coli include beef, sprouts, spinach, lettuce, ready-to-eat salads, fruit, raw milk, and raw flour and cookie dough.

To protect yourself from E. coli infection and other foodborne illnesses, follow basic food safety guidelines:

• Wash your hands, utensils and kitchen surfaces with hot, soapy water before and after preparing or eating food.
• Rinse fruits and vegetables thoroughly; scrub fruits and vegetables that have a firm surface with a vegetable brush while rinsing.
• Keep raw foods, especially meat and poultry, away from ready-to-eat foods.
• Refrigerate or freeze perishable foods promptly.
• Avoid unpasteurized juices, ciders and dairy products.
• Don't eat raw dough or batter.
• Don't drink untreated water from lakes or streams.
• Cook foods thoroughly. Use a thermometer to check the temperature.
• Beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops and roasts: 145 F (63 C)
• Ground meat (other than poultry): 160 F (71 C)
• Poultry: 165 F (74 C)
• Leftovers and casseroles: 165 F (74 C)

Ear candling — a technique that involves placing a lit, hollow, cone-shaped candle into the ear canal — can cause serious injury.

Research shows that ear candling is ineffective at removing earwax and is also not an effective treatment for any other conditions. In fact, the technique can actually push earwax deeper into the ear canal. Ear candling can also lead to:

• Deposits of candle wax in the ear canal
• Burns to the face, hair, scalp, ear canal, eardrum and middle ear
• Puncture of the eardrum

If you develop an earwax blockage, avoid ear candling. Instead, consult your doctor about simple steps you can take to safely and effectively remove the wax.

Ear stapling for weight loss isn't likely to work — and it poses a serious risk of infection.

Ear stapling is based loosely on the principles of acupuncture, which involves stimulating certain points with fine needles. With acupuncture of the ear, the needles are typically left in place for only a short time.

Proponents of ear stapling claim that the staples stimulate a pressure point that controls appetite, leading to weight loss. Small surgical staples are placed into the inner cartilage of each ear. The staples can be left in place for several weeks or even months.

Although some studies suggest that acupuncture can reduce appetite, ear stapling hasn't been proved effective for weight loss. And the largely unregulated practice of ear stapling can be dangerous if done in unsanitary conditions or by an untrained practitioner. In fact, puncturing ear cartilage poses a risk of serious infection and permanent disfigurement.

If you're overweight, don't depend on ear stapling for weight loss. Instead, discuss proven weight-loss strategies with your doctor.

The period right after you're infected with hepatitis C virus is known as the acute stage of infection. Some people with acute hepatitis C do not progress to the chronic stage of infection. This is called spontaneous viral clearance. Rates of spontaneous viral clearance vary somewhat from study to study, from as low as 15% to as high as 50% — though the average is around 25%.

Unfortunately, there's no way to predict whether you'll be one of the lucky ones who will escape chronic hepatitis C. Even if doctors could make such a prediction, it wouldn't help most people with early hepatitis C because the acute infection rarely causes signs and symptoms.

Further research may explain exactly how spontaneous hepatitis C virus clearance occurs, paving the way for treatment and vaccine development.

Early HIV symptoms usually occur within a couple of weeks to a month or two after infection and are often like a bad case of the flu. In many people, early HIV signs and symptoms include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Swollen lymph glands
• Rash
• Sore joints or muscles
• Sore throat

These early HIV symptoms are called acute retroviral syndrome or primary HIV infection and are the body's natural response. Symptoms, if they appear at all, usually disappear within a week to a month and are often mistaken for those of another viral infection. During this period, you are very infectious. More-persistent or more-severe symptoms of HIV infection may not appear for several years after the initial infection.

The symptoms that indicate an early HIV infection are extremely common. Often, you can't tell them apart from symptoms of another viral infection. If you're concerned that you might have been exposed to HIV, talk to your doctor about your testing options.

While excessive stress isn't good for your overall health, there's no evidence that stress results in miscarriage.

About 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. But the actual number is likely higher because many miscarriages occur before the pregnancy is recognized. Most often, early miscarriage is caused by a chromosomal abnormality that interferes with the normal development of the embryo.

Often, there's nothing you can do to prevent a miscarriage. However, managing any chronic conditions you have, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, and avoiding risky behaviors, such as smoking and using illegal drugs, can decrease your risk of a miscarriage.

If you're experiencing a high amount of stress, talk to your health care provider about management techniques.

Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is a rare virus that's spread to people by mosquitoes that have been infected. You can't catch it from another person, and you can only get it from being bitten by an infected mosquito. The virus can cause swelling (inflammation) of your brain. The only way to lower your chance of getting EEE is to prevent mosquito bites.

Signs and symptoms don't usually start for four to 10 days and may include headache, fever, chills and vomiting. Signs and symptoms can worsen to disorientation, seizures and coma and lead to brain damage or, in some cases, death.

People who live in or travel to the woods or other outdoor areas may have a greater risk of getting EEE.

There aren't any effective treatments for eastern equine encephalitis. But you can lower your chance of getting EEE by preventing mosquito bites. You can prevent mosquito bites by:

• Using insect repellent containing ingredients such as DEET or picaridin
• Using permethrin to treat clothing
• Wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts when outside
• Emptying standing water from outdoor containers
• Having screens on windows and doors

Very few people are infected with EEE each year. By taking measures to prevent mosquito bites, you may be able to lower your risk of getting the virus.

Eating your placenta after giving birth (placentophagy) can pose harm to both you and your baby.

The placenta is an intricate organ that nourishes the growing fetus by exchanging nutrients and oxygen and filtering waste products via the umbilical cord. The most common placenta preparation — creating a capsule — is made by steaming and dehydrating the placenta or processing the raw placenta. People have also been known to eat the placenta raw, cooked, or in smoothies or liquid extracts.

These preparations don't completely destroy infectious bacteria and viruses that the placenta might contain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning against taking placenta capsules due to a case in which a newborn developed group B streptococcus (group B strep) after the mother took placenta pills containing group B strep and breast-fed her newborn. The mother's breast milk was thought to be infected from group B strep bacteria that she acquired after eating her infected placenta. Group B strep can cause serious illness in newborns.

While some claim that placentophagy can prevent postpartum depression; reduce postpartum bleeding; improve mood, energy and milk supply; and provide important micronutrients, such as iron, there's no evidence that eating the placenta provides health benefits.

Placentophagy can be harmful to you and your baby. If you're looking for ways to promote your health postpartum, talk to your health care provider about proven alternatives.

Ebola virus disease is not transmitted through the air and does not spread through casual contact, such as being near an infected person. Unlike respiratory illnesses, which can spread by particles that remain in the air after an infected person coughs or sneezes, Ebola is spread by direct contact with body fluids of a person who is sick with Ebola.

Body fluids that can transmit Ebola include:

• Blood
• Feces
• Vomit
• Saliva
• Mucus
• Tears
• Breast milk
• Urine
• Semen
• Sweat

Evidence suggests that Ebola is first introduced into the human population through handling or eating certain infected mammals such as monkeys, fruit bats, forest antelope and porcupines. Ebola is then spread from human to human through direct contact with the body fluids of another infected person. There is no evidence that mosquitoes or other insects can transmit Ebola virus.

People infected with Ebola aren't contagious unless they have symptoms. If a person sick with Ebola coughs or sneezes, and saliva or mucus touches another person's eyes, nose, mouth, or an open cut or wound, these fluids may spread Ebola.

Handling objects that have been contaminated with body fluids from a person who is sick with or who has died from Ebola virus may also spread the disease.

Maybe, but not by much. Recent research suggests that some echinacea supplements may shorten the duration of a cold by about half a day and may slightly reduce symptom severity. But these results were too minor to be deemed significant.

In the past, some studies have found echinacea to be helpful while other studies have found no benefit. Part of the problem is that echinacea products can contain different concentrations of the herb, and the echinacea extracts used in these products can come from the flowers, stems or roots of three echinacea plant species. This makes it difficult to compare study results.

Echinacea generally doesn't cause problems for most people, but some people taking the herb have reported side effects such as stomach upset or diarrhea. Echinacea also has the potential to interact with other medications you might be taking, so talk with your doctor before using echinacea supplements.