Why Rare Steak is Safe — but NOT Rare Chicken

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Rare steak is pretty safe to eat, because the germs of greatest concern are usually found on the surface and will be killed when seared. But, as Dr. Francisco Diez-Gonzalez of the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety explains, research shows similar germs can live deep inside the muscle of chicken, and therefore can't be killed by simply searing the exterior. Ground beef is more dangerous than whole cuts because the exterior has been mixed into the interior. Fish is more complicated (depending on the species), but very few people get sick from eating totally raw fish (i.e. sushi). High-quality pork can be safe when cooked pink, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (finally) acknowledged in 2011.

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All photos of pathogens are public domain, drawn from Wikipedia.

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Q: Who actually eats rare chicken?
A: Chicken sashimi really is a thing in Japan, but the more likely scenario in which most people in the world would eat underdone chicken is by accident. I know that most people watching this video are aware that underdone chicken is dangerous. My goal was to explain WHY underdone chicken is dangerous, while medium rare beef is generally safe.

Q: WHY are pathogens more likely to be present in the interior of a chicken piece, as opposed to the interior of a cut of meat?
A: From Dr. Diez: “Scientific evidence has shown that bacteria can be detected inside of the muscle tissue of chicken, but in very rare instances they are found inside of a bovine’s muscle. The explanation may be that bacteria can penetrate the tissues of chicken via the lymphatic system, and that because of the size and shape of the chicken carcasses, they are more prone to absorb fecal bacteria when slaughtered.”

Q: People in my country commonly eat raw meat of various kinds, and we’re not dead yet. Why are you being so cautious?
A: Food safety standards vary dramatically across the globe. Dr. Diez and I are in the United States, and this video is about how to safely consume the mainstream U.S. food supply. Here’s a response from Dr. Diez: “A foodborne disease is a complex event that is influenced by a series of factors that involve the pathogen, the person and the environment. First, it depends whether the pathogenic microorganisms are actually present in the piece of meat — as much as 30% of raw chicken may have pathogenic bacteria, and in the case of beef and pork, it’s typically less than 10%. Second, humans have a series of protections against the invasion by pathogenic organisms that involve the acidity of the stomach and our immune system. Third, because of this protection, if the microorganism is present in very low doses, then it will die before it can make us sick. And fourth, the conditions that the meat had been subjected to before been ingested affect the ‘fitness’ of the microorganism to make us sick and then can be more susceptible to not causing disease. The recommendations are intended to minimize the risk to its minimal. Many of those countries in which meat is eaten raw do not have epidemiological systems that allow us to tell if someone got sick from meat. In many countries, getting a foodborne disease is considered just part of life and consumers do not get outraged if they develop symptoms, even mild ones.”

Q: You said that pink pork and beef are safe, but what about tapeworm?
A: Beef and pork tapeworm do not pose a significant risk in the mainstream food supplies of the U.S., Canada and Western Europe, where the bulk of my audience lives. They do pose a significant risk across much of the Global South. If tapeworm is a big risk where you live, you can kill it by cooking your meat to 145 F (63 C). For steak, that means cooking to at least medium.

Q: I’ve eaten underdone (or raw) meat in the U.S. many times, and I’ve never gotten sick. How is that possible?
A: Just because something is risky doesn’t mean you definitely will get sick. While pathogens are always present in meat to some degree, they are not always present in concentrations that would be enough to make you sick. U.S. food safety regulators work to enforce practices designed to minimize the presence of pathogens, but the system doesn’t always work, and these temperature guidelines are designed to keep you safe in the event of contaminations that can occur in various links of the supply chain. There are documented outbreaks all the time. Another thing to consider is that people’s immune systems vary. Sometimes your body is able to fight off an infection, and sometimes it isn’t; some people’s immune systems are particularly weak, such as young children and elderly people. There are many factors that go into determining your risk, and nothing is certain. But following these basic temperature guidelines will keep you out of most trouble.

Q: What if I get really high-quality meat from a farm?
A: From Dr. Diez: “Foodborne pathogens are zoonotic organisms that live naturally in the intestines of livestock and they do not discriminate from one type of production system to the other. Despite the fact that we have made significant progress in developing pre-slaughter food safety systems, they are yet to be fully implemented. The incidence of pathogenic bacteria in poultry and meats has been declining thanks to the multiple interventions during slaughter and meat processing that the industry has been implementing for decades, but it is still far from eliminating all the pathogens completely.”

Q: Does freezing really make fish safe to eat?
A: As Dr. Diez said, freezing helps, but it’s not a sliver bullet. Bacteria can survive freezing, though studies have shown that Vibrio (the bacteria Dr. Diez mentioned) can be mostly killed (i.e. most of the bacteria dead, some still alive) by long freezing. The main benefit of freezing seafood is that it’s good for killing parasites, which are the primary risk with seafood. In the U.S., the feds actually mandate that most fish species sold for sushi have to be frozen, for this purpose

Q: Can’t you make meat safe by heating it to lower cooking temperatures than those recommended and then holding it there for a long time?
A: Yes, pasteurization is a function of both time and temperature. You could kill the pathogens in a chicken by holding it at a temperature less than 165 F for a long time. That’s easy to do with a method like sous vide, but that’s hardly a common method for home cooking. I made this video to speak to the way I think most people actually cook at home. If you want to get more advanced, that’s great.

aragusea

It is rare in this medium to see such a well done video.

canadianbushman

That’s why I always eat Common, uncommon, epic, or even legendary chicken, but never rare...

Jupiterror

why is everything so zoomed in i feel like im intruding the videos personal space

Skaom

Note that parasites are quite the important consideration. Which parasites can be found can greatly vary from nation to nation, even neighbouring ones.
This video seems to be clearly about the USA and might not work in other places.
Also, ground meat can totally be fine to eat raw, even without frying. French Steak Tartare is an obvious example for beef, and german Mett for pork. Note that both are not made with random ground meat but special one that is sold for this very purpose.
I'd say the best advice is to ask your local butcher how you can prepare something.

Ksorkrax

Bro can you zoom in a bit closer it's not quite awkward enough

TaxEvader

Somebody should tell this to my college dining hall, they love to make perfect, juicy, medium rare chicken.

baseballlover

I worked as a cook at a nursing home a few years ago, and we had to cook pork to 165, so our pork chops, which were already super thin, came out so tough every time, and I constantly had old people sending CNAs into the kitchen with complaints about the tough pork chops. It was frustrating because I knew it really only had to be 145, but if I did that, I'd be risking getting in trouble, and then if one of the patients really did get sick, they could blame it on my "undercooked" pork... It was a lose-lose situation, and I didn't eat pork chops for a long time after that lol

alecdawg

"because who eats steak medium?"
My Asian parents: *you mean raw?*

그냥사람-ef

I feel like even if it was safe to eat rare chicken it would still be disgusting

rainbow_vader

For fish to be considered sushi grade, they have to be frozen to a specific temperature below 0°C for a certain period of time. Some fish may even be salted and soaked in vinegar to further mimic the preservation methods of olden daysn

nunosilva

“Do you know how many germs cripwalking on that chicken!?”

Sefirosu

I thoguht this said "but NOT rare Children", and was very intrigued

CrackaDon

you can hear gordon ramsay screaming in the background
"its f*ckin

detaramc

Rebasashi, also known as raw liver sashimi was a delicacy in Japan, this was later banned due to 180 severe cases of food poisoning in 2012, and more than a dozen died.

joei