Most food poisoning comes from produce, not meat
Produce does cause a large share of food poisoning cases, mostly mild ones, but meat and poultry cause more of the deaths. Much produce contamination traces back to animal faeces, and everyone eats produce, so cutting out meat removes a risk without adding one.
Fresh produce, often eaten raw, causes a large share of food poisoning outbreaks, and leafy greens alone account for a big portion of reported illnesses. Meat is nearly always cooked, which kills most pathogens, while salad goes straight from the bag to the plate. Some plants, like undercooked kidney beans, also carry toxins of their own. A diet built on plants is not automatically the safe choice, and people should understand those risks.
Partly true, but not in the way the argument needs. The most cited US estimate, a CDC attribution study covering 1998 to 2008, put plant foods at around 46% of foodborne illnesses and meat and poultry at around 22%. So produce is a large source. 'Vast majority' overstates it. The produce figure is driven mainly by norovirus, usually spread by infected food handlers, and those illnesses are mostly short and mild. Counted by deaths, meat and poultry come out ahead. Poultry alone was the leading single source of deaths in the same study. Salmonella from chicken and turkey sickens more people each year than all recorded cases of lectin poisoning from undercooked beans. Where produce does carry dangerous bacteria, the source is often animal farming. E. coli O157 lives in cattle guts and reaches leafy greens through manure, runoff and contaminated irrigation water. Calling that a plant problem misplaces it. The comparison also misses something. Omnivores eat fruit and vegetables too. Whatever risk produce carries is shared by every diet. Dropping meat takes away one source of risk and adds none. Both kinds of food need proper washing, cooking and storage. Neither risk is a reason to prefer animal products, especially given the long-term evidence that swapping meat for plant proteins improves health outcomes.
Citing an authority where the authority is outside their field, is not representative of expert opinion, or where the question calls for evidence rather than endorsement. Citing relevant, genuine expertise is not a fallacy: this is about misuse.
How it applies here: Asked for data, the speaker pointed to what they had been taught in medical school and to their years of experience. A figure about the share of food poisoning cases is settled by surveillance data, not by where someone learned it, and the speaker had no figure to set against the CDC numbers raised.