If you're unlucky enough to find yourself in a courtroom, you're probably scared of hearing the words "jail" or "prison" in your sentence.

But more frequently, judges are issuing strange punishments to give convicts an alternative to the big house or even having to pay a fine.

Just a few weeks ago, a judge ordered a South Carolina woman to read the Old Testament as part of her punishment for drunk driving.

She's not alone.

Another defendant was sentenced to wear a chicken suit in public while two others handed out water-safety fliers while standing in a kiddie pool.

Twenty hours of Beethoven, Chopin, and Bach.

The punishment only lasted around 15 minutes.

Andrew Vactor, 24, was initially fined $150 for blasting loud rap music in his car.

But Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott offered to cut the fine to $35 if he agreed to listen to 20 hours of classical music including Beethoven, Chopin, and Bach, the AP reported in 2008.

Fornof-Lippencott wanted Vactor to know how it felt to listen to music he didn't enjoy, the AP reported.

But Vactor lasted 15 minutes before opting to pay the fine, telling the AP he needed to skip the music so he could get to basketball practice.

"I didn't have the time to deal with that," Vactor told the AP. "I just decided to pay the fine."

A couple opted to stand in a childrens' pool and hand out pamphlets about water safety.

An Ohio couple went from tasting danger on the rapids of Ohio to embarrassing themselves in front of people while standing in a kiddie pool.

Grace Nash and Bruce Crawford ignored flood emergency warnings and took an unregistered raft to the Grand River for a swim, CBS News reported in May 2011.

When they made it to land, they allegedly misled officials about the details of their misadventure.

They eventually admitted to the whole thing and got a 90-day sentence in jail, according to News Net 5.

Thirty days were reportedly knocked off immediately, and Ohio Judge Michael Ciconnetti gave them an option to knock off the rest: standing in a childrens' pool, wearing life jackets, and handing out water safety pamphlets during a food festival.

A court order to dine at the Red Lobster and go bowling.

An argument over a husband not wishing his wife a happy birthday ended in court.

An arrest affidavit alleged Joseph Bray pushed his wife onto a couch and held his fist up to her, though never hitting her, the Sun Sentinel reported in February.

"It was a minor incident, in the court's opinion," Judge John Hurley reportedly said. "The court was would not normally do that if the court felt there was some violence but this is very, very minor and the court felt that that was a better resolution than other alternatives."

He reportedly asked Bray's wife what she liked to do, the Sentinel reported. She answered that she enjoyed bowling and eating at Red Lobster.

"Flowers, birthday card, Red Lobster, bowling," Hurley reportedly ordered.

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There's a chicken war brewing between the big fast food chains.

Now, Mighty Wings — McDonald's version of bone-in chicken wings — have appeared at select stores in Atlanta, reports Scott Hume at Burger Business.

"This is purely an item that restaurants in Atlanta are testing," a McDonald's spokesperson told the Huffington Post. "There are no plans to roll these out nationally. This local market test reflects our desire to meet customer needs on a local level."

McDonald's used to sell the wings in the U.S. back in the 1990s, but discontinued them in 2003. The National Chicken Council even says that the Mighty Wings are a big reason chicken wings are so popular today.

The wings were sold last year in Australia, re-branded as Chicken McWings. They're currently on the menu in Spain as Alitas de Pollo (which means "chicken wings").

If, one day, it does go national, McDonald's would be crossing an important line. Burger chains can push chicken sandwiches all day long, but what chicken chains like KFC and Popeye's care about most are their core, bone-in items. 

NOW SEE: 12 McDonald's Menu Items That Failed Spectacularly >

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Boston Mayor Thomas Menino spoke out against Chick-fil-A, promising not to let the chicken chain enter the city, after the company's president and COO Dan Cathy made anti-gay marriage comments.

Now, he has sent a strongly worded letter to Chick-fil-A. 

"I was angry to learn on the hells of your prejudiced statements about your search for a site to locate in Boston," he writes. "There is no place for discrimination on Boston's Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it."

Here's the full letter, from GrubStreet:

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There's only one Chick-fil-A location in New York City. It's at 5 University Place on the campus of New York University in Manhattan. 

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already stated that he has no problem with its presence, noting that it's not the government's business to get involved.

He disagreed with the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco, who all spoke out against Chick-fil-A following president and COO Dan Cathy's statements about the definition of marriage.

But not all NYC politicians feel the same way as Mayor Bloomberg — especially Christine Quinn, NYC's first-ever openly gay City Council speaker. She's expected to run for mayor in 2013.

Quinn wants Chick-fil-A out.

"We find the remarks made by Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy to be repugnant and un-American," writes Quinn in a petition she put up on Change.org. "In New York City, we stand up against intolerance and homophobia. We demand the Chick-fil-A executive apologize and change his position."

Is it possible for NYU to kick out Chick-fil-A? Well, NYU is a private university with a large number of gay students, so it may be possible for it to get out of the current contract with Chick-fil-A, or just not renew it once the deal is up, according to the New York Observer. The food court that houses the Chick-fil-A is currently closed for the summer.

This particular Chick-fil-A was being contested even before Cathy's statements created a firestorm. Students protested and petitioned in an attempt to remove the restaurant back in March after revelations that Chick-fil-A's charity arm had donated millions to anti-gay groups.

The protesters' plans were eventually struck down by the NYU Student Senators Council, but now, the movement has been resurrected. The petition has been quickly gaining signatures again, and people outside university walls are getting involved. 

Quinn, for instance, has even sent a letter to NYU president John Sexton, urging him to boot the Chick-fil-A, which would effectively kick the chain out of NYC.

Here's the full letter, acquired by the Observer:

NOW SEE: Meet S. Truett Cathy, The 91-Year-Old Billionaire Behind Chick-Fil-A >

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Organized smugglers are exploiting Iran's deepening economic woes by spiriting away vast quantities of chicken so they can then be sold at inflated prices on the black market, officials have said.

In the latest twist to what has become known as the "chicken crisis", Iranian police say have discovered 60,000kg (60 tonnes) of live and slaughtered poultry hidden in various locations throughout the country over a 15-day period.

The discovery comes amid a bitter political furore over the soaring cost of chicken, which has risen more than threefold to up to 80,000 rial (£4.20) per kilogram in the past year.

A chorus of public complaint over what is a staple part of the Iranian diet has even prompted the intervention of Iran's police chief and senior clerics as the government has scrambled to make chicken available at affordable prices.

Investigators say the first evidence of what they describe as a vast smuggling effort was found last month in the north-western city Astara, when officers uncovered 3,000 kilograms of live chickens hidden at an unnamed location.

That was followed by the discovery of 23,000 kilogram of live poultry stashed away in a fleet of trucks and vans in the south-western province of Ilam in preparation for its illicit transport across the country. The produce was then to be sold illegally in locations other than poultry stores and market bazaars.

Similar cases have been discovered in other provinces on a daily basis, the semi-official news agency Mehr reported. In one instance, a worker at a poultry factory in the shrine city of Qom – home of Iran's religious establishment – was able to sell 2,000 chickens at above-market prices by posing as the owner.

It is believed to be the first time chicken has been targeted by Iran's illegal smuggling network, which more commonly features cosmetics, audio-visual equipment and alcohol.

Officials have not said whether smuggling is a cause or a symptom of rising chicken prices. Farmers and traders have previously blamed the increases on international sanctions – imposed to combat Iran's nuclear programme – which they say has made it impossible to buy foreign-made livestock feed and thus driven up the price of domestic produce.

Last month, Iran's police chief, Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, called on the state broadcaster to censor images of chicken dinners from television screens to reduce the risk of public disorder. A grand ayatollah, Naser Makarem Shirazi, told Iranians to stop eating it, saying it was unhealthy, while the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, Ahmad Alamolhoda, instructed worshippers to replace chicken with a traditional vegetable dish.

Residents in the north-western town of Neishabour recently took to the streets to protest against chicken's rising cost.

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A gross picture of a very undercooked KFC chicken sandwich made its rounds on the web a few days ago, and now we have a detailed explanation of what happened straight from the guy who bit into that sandwich.

According to his account, it appears that the KFC location handled the situation quite well, although it was obviously at fault in the first place.

The customer, Doug, explained to us in an email:

On August 31st, I went to the KFC in Cambridge with my brother. We each bought the Wicked Zinger Box Meal to go, as well as some popcorn chicken, and took it home. We sat down to eat and I started talking with my brother and eating my sandwich. In the middle of that I looked down and noticed exactly what you see in the pictures. I immediately asked my brother to check his own sandwich, which he tore open. Although it was slightly undercooked in the center, it was mostly white (nothing like mine). 

We drove back to the restaurant and showed the lady who dealt with us earlier (she was only doing the cash). She was disgusted and called the manager. After seeing the sandwich, he went to the back to see who was the individual in charge of making them. He returned and offered to make my brother and I a new sandwich personally. I advised that I was not interested in having another one of those sandwiches again. He took my name down and advised that I would get a free meal the next time I went in, which I said I wouldn't expect to happen. 

I went onto the KFC Canada website and filled out a feedback form. Once I did not receive a response, on September 4th I posted the picture on KFC Canada's Facebook page, as well as my own. Within 10 minutes, KFC Canada commented on it and asked that I call their 1-800. I called and did a report with them. They advised that they would be looking into it and getting back to me. I have not heard back from them as of yet.

My friend Greg shared the picture on his own Facebook and then signed up on reddit.com to post it on there as well. We were not expecting this to get all the attention that it did. Greg just thought that it was crazy and disgusting that this would have happened and wanted people to know about it. 

NOW SEE: 14 Ways To Get Fired From McDonald's >

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The fast food industry has entered a chicken war, but there's at least one chicken chain that's not scared of the increased competition.

It's Popeyes.

We sat down with Cheryl Bachelder, CEO of Popeyes, to talk about her competitors' movement toward chicken and what she thinks of it.

Bachelder has overseen a mighty turnaround at the chicken chain, and she's far from worried about the bigger chains butting into her business.

"Everybody's going into chicken sandwiches and that is not our sweet spot," said Bachelder. "Bone-in chicken, portable chicken and seafood — that's where we differentiate."

"They can make chicken sandwiches all day long — they're mediocre," she continued. "There's nothing high-quality about them."

Bachelder mentioned the effectiveness of the Popeyes brand. It has a specific appeal to customer, and it's something that a chain like McDonald's wouldn't be able to replicate, she said.

"McDonald's doesn't marinate for 12 hours, and if they did, you wouldn't believe them anyway," she said "We want to use a lot of our food credibility."

Bachelder isn't afraid — at least outwardly — of any competitive pressure. To her, Popeyes' competition are the top five quick-serve brands, because she's fighting for the same occasion of lunch or dinner as them. So, Popeyes measures its market share and performance against all of the top chains.

"That's the way we want to think. We want to beat McDonald's — we don't want to beat just KFC," said Bachelder. "We do have to be ahead of them in our service experiences. We still have an opportunity for improvement to compete with the big guys."

"The problem we do have is to get next door to all of them," she said.

That's one big problem, of course. Popeyes is the second-largest fast food chicken chain, but its 1,800 stores are dwarfed by McDonald's 33,000. It just doesn't have the scale.

Now, if Popeyes is touting its quality, what about the rise of fast casual chains like Panera Bread, Chipotle and Five Guys Burgers and Fries, which have spent years building their brands around just that?

Bachelder said that it's one of the reasons why Popeyes is going through a re-imaging process, making its stores more upscale so you feel good about sitting there to enjoy your food.

"[Fast casual] focuses on food quality and it focuses on a quality environment to eat your food. I think they've changed the way you want to enjoy your fast food," she explained. "Superior food, superior experience and superior environment."

NOW SEE: 8 'Better Burger' Chains Poised To Conquer America >

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During the summer, KFC starting selling Original Recipe Bites. 

Then came Chicken Littles.

Now, KFC's going with Dip'ems — a repackaged version of the fast food brand's Extra Crispy chicken tenders.

There's a very specific reason that KFC decided to go with these items as its limited-time offerings, reports Mark Brandau at Nation's Restaurant News.

Tim Nelson, president of ad agency Tris3ct, explains to NRN why KFC is going this:

“The next frontier for a place like KFC is to become a snack destination. The sales and traffic growth in QSR is going to come around snacking. You also can sell these Dip’ems in the drive-thru, which where you can sell more drinks, where the best margins come in.”

It's a "thoughtful pursuit," according to Nelson. For instance, another one of Yum! Brands' chains Taco Bell came out with the Doritos Locos Tacos to make a wider impact on the business. KFC is staying focused, doing everything it can with product development to attack the snack food segment.

NOW SEE: The Most Popular Fast Food Restaurants In America >

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This Thanksgiving, Americans will buy 581 million pounds of Turkey meat. Most of the big bird will end up in our stomachs, but at least 35 percent, or about 204 million pounds of that good turkey meat, will be tossed into the garbage, according to Dana Gunders of the Natural Resource Defense Council.

The statistic comes from a 2011 USDA report, which provides estimates for the amount of food that is thrown away, on everything from meats to eggs to nuts, during preparation or consumption.  

Interestingly, the report notes that the estimate of food loss for turkey is more than double that of chicken, which stands at 15 percent. 

The USDA says this is "possibly because turkey is more often eaten during holidays when consumers may tend to discard relatively more uneaten food than on other days." 

We think the answer is even more simple than that: Turkeys are bigger than chickens, meaning they're harder to finish, meaning more turkey ends up in the trash. 

SEE ALSO: 13 Crazy Things You Didn't Know About Food

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SEE ALSO: The Hostess Sno Ball Is A Brilliant Reinvention Of Another Hostess Product

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Here's a disgusting story that's not going to make you want to eat KFC any time soon.

Ibrahim Langoo, a student in the UK, was eating at a KFC at a restaurant in Colchester when he came across this brain-like thing in his chicken.

Langoo explained what happened to The Sun:

“I have a habit of picking the chicken off the bone with my fingers and as I pulled the second piece apart, I saw this horrible wrinkled foreign body. I threw it down onto my tray immediately. It looked like a brain. I suddenly felt grim and really sick.

“I couldn’t bring myself to pick the lump up so I went to the serving counter to complain.

“It was about 1pm and pretty hectic in the restaurant and as it was so busy none of the staff helped me.”

What exactly is it? KFC explains in a statement to The Sun that it's probably not a brain:

"Although we haven't received the product, it appears from a photograph that unfortunately on this occasion a kidney, and not a brain as claimed, was not removed in the preparation process. We're very sorry about Mr Langoo's experience and while there was no health risk, we agree it was unsightly."

Oh, a kidney. That's much better.

“I never want to eat KFC again - in Colchester or anywhere else," Langoo told The Sun. "I’ll eat chicken at home, where I can see how it’s been prepared.”

SEE ALSO: Japan's Epic Fast Food War Inspired These Crazy Menu Items >

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Retail chicken prices hit an all-time record for the second-consecutive month in December as producers continued to pass on the effects of this summer's sky-high corn prices.

The USDA's retail broiler composite price, which measures the price paid for chicken parts and whole birds, hit $1.97/lb, a jump of $0.10 in just two months, the agency reported.

The mid-summer drought sent corn prices above $8 for the first time ever. Corn is one of the major feedstocks used to grow chickens. 

Bruce Reinstein, V.P. of Strategic Development at bulk food contractor Consolidated Concepts,says his clients are struggling with the crazy-high prices.

"Demand for products are up and supply down," he said via email.

Here's the USDA's chart:

SEE MORE: Here's What A Drought-Devastated Crop Looks Like >

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Hotels are rushing to prepare to accommodate guests who arrive or come down with the potentially deadly flu that's sweeping the nation.

"We hear the flu reports every day, and we want to be prepared (for sick guests)," says Andy Labetti, general manager of the Omni Berkshire Place in Midtown Manhattan.

Preparations include having chicken soup to serve to sick guests stuck in their rooms, stocking up on jugs of hand sanitizer gel, medication and boxes of tissues. They're also trying not to spread the flu by reminding employees to wash their hands or giving them flu shots.

Other hotels are taking similar steps as the flu strain is widespread across 47 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

- The Beverly Hills Hotel in California, part of the luxury Dorchester Collection, has stocked its shop with extra hand sanitizer, Theraflu and other medications, says publicist Jenna Duran. It's sending complimentary chicken soup, tissues, cold medicine and lip balm to sick guests.

- At the Omni Mandalay in Las Colinas, Texas, the hotel's kitchen makes chicken soup for sick guests, says food and beverage director Charles Riley. "We send it up with a get-well card and ginger ale," he says.

- The Mayflower Renaissance hotel in Washington has added hand gel to its front desk counters.

Labetti of Omni Berkshire Place says staffers are encouraged to approach guests who appear ill to see how they can help.

"As a hotelier, the first thing out of your mouth is, 'What can we do for you? Do you need extra blankets? Do you need a humidifier?'" he says. "Whatever you need, we're going to take care of it. We want you to know you're not here alone."

No traveler wants to catch the flu on the road, so many are taking their own precautions. Susan Jacobsen of Washington says she took a mini-bottle of disinfectant spray with her to Las Vegas earlier this month when she attended the International CES, the giant consumer electronics show.

Despite the precautions hotels are taking, some travelers are avoiding hotel gyms or even elevators for fear of catching the flu bug.

Penny Ridderbusch of Port Townsend, Wash., says she saw so many fellow travelers coughing that she stopped by a drugstore when traveling in December to get a flu shot.

She remains so leery of catching the flu, however, that she's avoiding hotel gyms to work out in her room. And, "I try to avoid riding in the hotel elevator with anyone," she says. "I use the back of my hand for pressing elevator buttons."

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What's your wing of choice: boneless, or bone-in?

Right now, it looks like people getting quite excited about the boneless variety.

A study from hospitality research firm GuestMetrics showed that boneless chicken wings are getting increasingly popular.

Total chicken wing sales grew 10.7 percent in 2012 compared with the year prior. Orders increased 7.3 percent in 2012 and menu prices jumped 3.4 percent.

Most of that growth had nothing to do with traditional bone-in wings though. It was all about the boneless.

Boneless wings made from chicken breast made up a whopping 81 percent of that growth. Those wings were around 14 percent of total wing sales in 2012.

GuestMetrics VP of strategy and insights Peter Reidhead explained in a release:

"In further analyzing the chicken wing category, we see that about 80 percent of the incremental growth in chicken wings was due to strength seen among boneless chicken wings, which accounted for about 14 percent of chicken wing sales in 2012. Given the average price of boneless chicken wings is $7.99 versus $6.87 for regular chicken wings, this shift in consumer preferences should prove to be a further positive for restaurants selling chicken wings.” 

SEE ALSO: Step Inside The Building Where McDonald's Runs Its Global Empire >

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Buffalo Wild Wings is testing out a whole new pricing system for its wings. 

Chicken wing prices are at a record high and they're cutting into the chain's profits.

The chain currently buys them from suppliers by the pound, then sells them to the consumer in fixed numbers of wings.

The new method downplays the actual number of wings in each order. Instead, it presents variable-size portions based on weight.

"I think that it’s important for, and this is the harder part to communicate, is that because the wing sizes have gotten so much larger, five wings yields more ounces of chicken than six used to,"said CEO Sally Smith on the company's Q4 earnings call with analysts. "So the guest I think is seeing a value in additional protein, I guess. It is – it probably does take a little bit getting used to if we’re consistently serving five."

The move is essentially a price increase, noted Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Kelter on the call.

"But it’s probably a more conspicuous price increase than any other you could take because it does change the way the consumer interacts with the concept," said Kelter.

The new system is in place in 64 Buffalo Wild Wings locations and it includes both company-owned and franchised restaurants.

How is the test going so far?

Well, it's still being tweaked. Buffalo Wild Wings is still having trouble figuring out the right portion sizes.

Smith explained on the company's Q4 earnings call with analysts — helpfully transcribed by Seeking Alpha:

"We have been testing different ounces of meat in let’s say the single, double, of wings in the single, double and triple. A franchisee for example was using a targeted amount. We had been using a targeted ounce amount similar to when the wings were smaller. And we just want to get that right. So, no, we haven’t been getting push back. I think a lot of it has to do with how we explain to our guests, whether we say, okay, today we’re serving five wings for a small order or six wings and making sure that, that guest understands. So as they, you know, this has been the way we’ve served wings for 30 years, and making that transition, we just want to make sure we get it right."

Watch Below: The Definitive History Of Deep Fried Food

SEE ALSO: Step Inside The Building Where McDonald's Runs Its Global Empire >

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A few years ago we found out that chicken nuggets at some fast food chains were processed into a pink goop before they were fashioned into attractive edible bits.

Organic chicken, on the other hand, was supposed to be minimally processed, and convince us that we are eating real chicken again.

An anecdote we read in the Wall Street Journal, by Melanie Warner, author of "Pandora's Lunchbox," has totally changed how we think about "organic" food.

After buying Applegate Farms Organic Chicken Strips, Warner decided to see how they aged, as research for her book.

The results sound revolting:

After about two weeks, the Applegate nuggets, which I'd placed in a Ziploc bag left slightly open, had essentially liquefied, with the outlines of the individual chicken pieces no longer visible. The whole thing was soft and mushy to the touch, and the color had darkened.

Some non-organic tenders from Bell & Evans, on the other hand, remained in tact when she performed a similar experiment (though they reeked).

Warner contacted Chris Ely, one of Applegate's founders, who said that his product may have dissolved because the company doesn't use additives to bind everything together like other manufacturers do.

Even so, they seemed heavily processed, not "minimally processed" as the package stated.

As a reminder, the USDA requires food labeled "organic" to contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients, not counting added water and salt. And it cannot contain sulfites, a type of preservative.

The bottom line — think twice before you see the "organic" label on a product and assume it's all natural.

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McDonald's Chicken McNuggets are one of the fast food juggernaut's core menu items. They're offered all over the world and are gobbled up by the millions.

McDonald's has to make sure every piece is as perfect and standardized as possible — all the way down to the shape of the chicken.

So, there's a method to the McNugget madness.

We visited the McDonald's headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., and sat in on a quality testing session. They had flown in chicken pros from suppliers like Tyson to grade the nuggets.

The McDonald's sensory team explained that Chicken McNuggets have four distinct shapes and in order to have a chance to meet the McDonald's "Gold Standard" for quality, they have to match them as perfectly as possible.

And each of those shapes has its own name.

Here are the four shapes of Chicken McNuggets, according to Barbara J. Booth, director of sensory science at McDonald's USA:

• Ball
• Bone
• Bell
• Boot

Elsewhere, it seems that McDonald's uses a different name for the "bone."

"There are four different Chicken McNugget shapes (the "boot,""ball,""bow-tie" and "bell"),"McDonald's Canada wrote on its Q&A page.

But the perfect McNugget needs a lot more than a well-aligned shape, according to McDonald's standards. The company tests flavor, breading texture, meat texture, bite firmness, color, coating, and a whole lot more. It's a strangely thorough process.

Of course, if you've ever eaten at McDonald's, you know that this doesn't mean the nuggets come out perfectly every time in restaurants.

It's bad when you get a tiny, mutant McNugget in your box, but it's even worse when you get a whole batch of cold, soft ones that weren't prepared properly by staff.

Disclosure: McDonald's provided travel and accommodations for the trip.

SEE ALSO: Go Inside The Secret Test Kitchen Where McDonald's Invents New Menu Items [PHOTOS] >

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A worker at a Perdue chicken processing plant had mostly kind things to say about where America's poultry came from. 

But there's one food he'll never eat again: chicken nuggets. 

In a Reddit Ask Me Anything, the man shared why he doesn't eat the food. 

[NOTE: While the man's identity was verified by Reddit moderators, Business Insider can't independently prove his veracity.]

"It's the meat that can only be gotten by smashing, mashing, mixing, boiling, bleaching, etc the other unwanted parts of the chicken," the man said. 

He also described what goes into the nuggets. 

“It’s all chicken. It’s just not all meat. Some of it’s skin, a few bones, fat, and whatever meat might still be attached to any of the previous mentioned,” he said. 

He said his plant provides meat to grocery stores and restaurants. 

SEE ALSO: McDonald's Has Four Distinct Shapes Of Chicken McNuggets — Here's What They're Called >

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Chicken and ground beef are often staples at the dinner table, but they're also the meat products most likely to make consumers sick, according to a new report.

The report, from the advocacy organization Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), ranks meat products based on their likelihood of causing severe illness.

At the top of the list was chicken. Between 1998 and 2010, chicken products, including roasted, grilled and ground chicken, were definitively linked to 452 outbreaks of foodborne illness and 6,896 cases of illness in the United States, the report says. (An outbreak was defined as two or more illnesses linked to a common food source.)

Ground beef came in second: The product was linked to 336 outbreaks and 3,801 cases of illness over the same time period.

The report identified other high-risk products, including turkey and steak, which were responsible for 130 and 82 outbreaks, respectively. Deli meats, pork and roast beef were considered medium-risk products (linked to about 60 to 130 outbreaks) while ham, sausage and chicken nuggets were low-risk (linked to 34 to 57 outbreaks), the report said.

Sarah Klein, CSPI senior food safety attorney, urged Americans to "practice defensive eating" by assuming all meats are hazardous, and taking extra caution in handling, preparing and serving meats.

The report is based on information from 1,714 outbreaks involving 33,372 illnesses in the United States. Each meat product was given a score based on the number of illnesses it caused and the likelihood that people who fell ill from eating the product were hospitalized.

However, the findings are limited because the vast majority of people who fall ill from eating contaminated meat products do not visit the doctor, and their cases are not investigated by public health authorities, said Caroline Smith DeWaal, the food safety director at CSPI.

The bacteria Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 were responsible for about a third of illnesses, the report said. These pathogens most often contaminate meat products during slaughter or meat processing, the report says. The bacteria Clostridium perfringens, which can grow on food that sits out for too long and can cause illness if leftovers are not properly cooked, was responsible for another third of illnesses.

Some experts were critical of the report. Douglas Powell, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University, called the rankings a "gimmick" that distracts people from the big picture that all foods come with risks.

"To my mind, all food is risky and should be treated with care," Powell said. It's important, he said, "to treat all foods, not just meat, but produce — everything — as a potential sources of dangerous microorganisms."

Over the last decade, the biggest source of foodborne illness has been produce, which consumers often eat raw, he added.

Consumers should use a thermometer to tell when their food has reached the proper internal temperature, Powell said. They should thoroughly wash all produce and discard vegetable peels.

Other food safety tips include avoiding cross-contamination in the kitchen: Don't use the same cutting board for raw meat and uncooked foods, Klein said. Pork should be cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit, beef to 160 and poultry to 165, Klein said.

The CSPI is looking to the food industry to reduce contamination of their products with bacteria such as Salmonella (primarily a concern with poultry) and E. coli O157:H7 (primarily a concern with ground beef). The organization also agrees with a USDA proposal to label mechanically tenderized steak. These steaks have been punctured with needles or blades that push pathogens into the interior of the product. Steaks that have been treated this way should not be served rare, but consumers have no way of knowing this, Powell said.

Pass it on: Consumers should take care in handing and preparing all foods to avoid foodborne illness.

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND,Facebook & Google+. Originally published on MyHealthNewsDaily.

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These items were once easy to find on your favorite fast food menus. But due to low demand or disastrous marketing campaigns, all were phased out — much to the dismay of loyal fans.

From the McDonald's Arch Deluxe to the Wendy's SuperBar, we took a look at 14 fast food items that have been discontinued during the past few decades.

Most still have a following on Facebook fan pages. But besides Taco Bell's Beefy Crunch Burrito, which is returning to restaurants in late May, the majority of these items probably aren't going to stage a comeback any time soon. 

Burger King Burger Shots

Burger King tried three times to make sliders stick at their stores. The sandwiches were meant to be a direct competitor to the famed White Castle sliders.

When the initial model didn't work, they made the burgers bigger and launched a similar product called the Burger Buddies a few years later.

The chain's last slider attempt came in 2009 with Burger Shots. But customers still didn't bite, and they have been discontinued.

The Wendy's SuperBar

Remember when Wendy's had a salad bar? The chain still offers salads, but the days of self-serve are long gone.

The SuperBars also used to offer a pasta bar and "Mexica fiesta" station. In the end, the bars weren't easy for workers to keep up with, and with all-you-can-eat for less than $4 a plate, it probably wasn't too profitable either. Wendy's has stuck to its pre-made salad options since phasing this staple out.

The McDLT

Jason Alexander sang the praises of the McDLT burger (which stood for McDonald's Lettuce Tomato) when it hit the McDonald's menu in the early 1990s. The burger was supposed to be a new rival to the Whopper, and had the tagline "Keep the hot side hot, and the cool side cool."

But it didn't work out. A lot of the product's demise has been blamed on its polystyrene packaging. The container had one side for the hot parts burger and bun and another side for the cold toppings — lettuce, tomato, cheese and pickles. Making customers put the burger together themselves might have been too asking too much, and some people blamed it for not being eco-friendly.

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