You can protect yourself from food poisoning (or "foodborne illness") by making wise decisions regarding where you eat.

Restaurants are inspected by local health departments to ensure they are clean and have adequate kitchen facilities. You can find out how a restaurant did on its latest inspection and use the score (posted in the restaurant in many jurisdictions) to help guide your choice. Knowing if the restaurant has trained its staff in principles of food safety is also helpful.

You can order specific foods when eating out, in order to protect yourself from food poisoning. For example, when ordering a hamburger, ask that it be cooked to 160ºF (78ºC) and make sure it is not still pink in the middle. You can also ask if any foods containing eggs will include pasteurized eggs.

If you are served meat or poultry that has not been thoroughly cooked, send it back to the kitchen for further cooking. You may want to ask for a clean plate and, for hamburgers, a new bun as well.