I was wondering I bought a bag of lentils and was doing some online reading about how to cook them and found that if they are not cooked long enough they can cause food poisoning. Is this true and how long should they be cooked.

Thanks

Usually there are instructions on the bag. That should tell you what to do better than I can.

I eat lentils fairly frequently. I generally just cook them until they're the texture I want them to be (which depends - sometimes soft is nice, and sometimes I like them firmer). I didn't know about the food poisoning, so I guess I've been a razor's edge away from sickness!

But nah, I'm not worried. I've been eating them for a couple years and never got sick. It's kinda like an egg - it COULD make you sick, but it's not so worrisome.

i've eaten lentils all my life - and trust me, undercooking them doesn't give you food poisoning.
do you know what kind of lentils you have?

The best way to cook them is to put them in a pressure cooker and let it go for 4-5 whistles.
They don't cook well on the stovetop, microwave or rice cooker

Put them in pressure cooker with water double the volume of lentils. After 2 vistles reduce hit to minimum, allow it to cook for 5 minutes. When Pressure cooker cools down, take it out. In another pan heat 1 tbs oil and saute garlic, onion, tomatoes and some curry powder, if you like. Then put cooked lentils and some tomato ketchup and sault.
You will like it.