Poultry is generally not served medium rare or rare due to the potential risk of salmonella poisoning.
Despite whatever reason you may hear, you should never eat raw or “rare” chicken. “Raw chicken can have bacteria that can cause food poisoning,” says DiGeronimo. The most common bacterial food poisoning from chicken include: Campylobacter.
Apparently a thing in Japan — where it is known as torisashi — and available at a handful of culinarily adventurous American restaurants, chicken sashimi is pretty much what it sounds like: raw chicken.
The USDA says that as long as all parts of the chicken have reached a minimum internal temperature of 165°, it is safe to eat. Color does not indicate doneness. The USDA further explains that even fully cooked poultry can sometimes show a pinkish tinge in the meat and juices.
"Eating chicken medium rare is likely not safe and can lead to foodborne illnesses," says Alina Jameson, MS, RD, from the University of Utah School of Medicine.
The craziest thing about this whole "medium-rare chicken" saga is that is actually a dish served in Japan called chicken tataki, which is seared over hot coals and served mostly raw. Gibbs seems to have sourced the image from this blog post reviewing a restaurant in Shizuoka City, Japan.
Raw or undercooked chicken is not safe to eat under any circumstances. It's a breeding ground for bacteria such as salmonella and campylobacter. According to the USDA, the safe internal temperature for chicken is 165°F.
As long as you take the bird's temperature with a cooking thermometer at multiple places – not just the thigh – and get a reading at or above 165 degrees, a rosy tinge shouldn't be a health concern.
Will you definitely get sick from undercooked chicken? Well you're far more likely to get sick from an un cooked chicken than a raw egg. While only about 1 in 7000 eggs have salmonella, 1 in 4 pieces of chicken do. If the chicken was mostly cooked then that chance goes way down.
The true test of whether chicken is safely cooked is if it reaches 165 degrees at the center. At that temperature foodborne pathogens quickly die. SOURCES: Bloody Chicken is Safe to Eat.
In Japan, eating raw meat, fish, and eggs is just a part of the food culture, which values simplicity and reveres ingredients more than preparation. Tokyo, in particular, is famous for its food scene.
Still, the fossil record suggests that ancient human ancestors with teeth very similar to our own were regularly consuming meat 2.5 million years ago. That meat was presumably raw because they were eating it roughly 2 million years before cooking food was a common occurrence.
Chicken Sashimi
Japan is a wondrous place that offers a variety of bizarre treats. A treat that might put many people off, however, is raw chicken meat, known as chicken sashimi. Weird as it may be, a lot of people eat raw chicken in Japan.
“Officials say the internal temperature of a steak, or other solid cut of meat, is not a significant health concern because harmful bacteria that may be present would normally only be on the surface of the meat, and would be eliminated even if cooked “rare.””
The reason why you can't eat raw chicken, compared to other types of meat, is because bacteria can easily survive the processing procedure. Salmonella lives in the intestines of chickens and, due to the way the meat is processed, these parts can easily contaminate the rest of the chicken and remain there when sold.
Since it only takes 10 live bacteria cells for salmonella to make someone sick, even one bite of raw chicken can make most people sick.
Sadly, nothing can help you once you've eaten the raw meat. Drinking water or rinsing your mouth won't undo it, and neither will forcing yourself to be sick. So, the best thing to do is to pick up a bland diet and stay hydrated with water and electrolyte drinks until the symptoms subside – which in most cases, it does.
Symptoms of Salmonella usually appear within six hours to six days after eating food (or touching an animal) contaminated with the bacteria and include. Nausea, vomiting, fever and diarrhea are all hallmark symptoms.
Chemical changes occur during cooking. Oven gases in a heated gas or electric oven react chemically with hemoglobin in the meat tissues to give it a pink tinge. Often meat of younger birds shows the most pink because their thinner skins permit oven gases to reach the flesh.
But it's still not a guarantee it makes you sick. You still have to eat an infectious dose. One bite might not do it. It might though if it is highly infected.
Can you eat chewy chicken but not pink? It is not recommended to eat chewy chicken, regardless of whether it appears pink or not. Tough chicken can be a sign that the chicken is undercooked and may still contain harmful bacteria.
Special Features: The Holland is the rarest American-bred chicken breed. It is a white-skinned, dual-purpose breed that is cold hardy and has the unique feature of being one of the only American-classed breeds that lays white eggs.