Why is red meat able to be served medium rare, eggs (which also come from chickens), can be undercooked, but chicken can’t be?
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Most bacteria is on the surface of beef, which means that most of it is killed when it’s surface reaches 165F. Ground beef on the order hand has a much higher risk of being contaminated because the surface gets mixed in during the grinding process. This is why many chain restaurants only cook their burgers as low as medium and fast food to well done.
Nowadays in the US, it’s very unlikely for eggs to carry salmonella due to the way they’re commercially processed; although, last month 65 cases of salmonella outbreaks were reported causing a major recall. That being said, the case number was extremely low compared to the millions of eggs consumed daily in the US.
Chickens like many fowl on the other hand can carry salmonella internally as it’s part of their microbial flora. This is why chicken needs to be cooked to 165F internally to instantly kill the bacteria.
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