I know red meats are usually safe to eat when not fully cooked, and often preferred to be eaten when not cooked all the way through. What makes poultry specifically more prone to passing along bacteria than other meats?
In: Biology
The big danger in eating raw beef is e. coli which is a bacteria that lives in the cow’s gut; as long as the cow’s entrails are not pierced during the slaughter process and the cow is healthy, the chances of getting e. coli are relatively low, and if it is contaminated, cooking the exterior of the meat will kill it. That’s why it’s safe to eat a rare steak ground beef isn’t as safe. The danger in eating raw chicken is salmonella which also lives in the chicken’s gut. Chickens are tiny compared to cows, and they have much more delicate entrails. They blast through the processing line at a chicken processing plan in a manner of seconds so the chances of a worker accidentally piercing the chicken’s guts are much higher compared to a cow which weighs as much as a Mazda Miata. Secondly, since it’s a generally accepted practice in America to eat undercooked beef, if USDA inspectors find e. coli contamination in beef, it can no longer be sold raw to the consumer, but it can be an ingredient in a cooked product like frozen meatballs. No such protection exists for chicken, because it’s not an accepted practice to eat undercooked chicken.
Latest Answers