Image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay
Image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay
On his Instagram page @rawchickenexperiment, a Florida man documents eating raw chicken for 41 days so far (as of February 28, 2024) in a raw chicken experiment.
For science. Of course.
The self-proclaimed “future Nobel prize winner” vows that he will continue “eating raw chicken every day til I get a tummy ache.”
This social media influencer is no stranger to raw meat. In fact, this raw chicken experiment is just the next phase in his raw meat experiment lifestyle. On another page @rawmeatexperiment he explores other raw foods.
While some people will do just about anything to get a “like,” could putting yourself at risk for serious, even life-threatening illness really be worth it.
Sorry kids. Do NOT try this at home!
John (surname unavailable) is a social media influencer using his fame to tempt fate. Vowing to “[eat] raw meat every day” and “seeing if I live 5 days or 500 years” may not be the best approach to a healthy diet.
He posts videos of his recipes that include peanut and jelly raw chicken, raw chicken parmesan smoothie, raw chicken and waffles, and more.
The influencer says that he has contacted doctors about the safety of aspects of his raw chicken diet. I cannot imagine any American doctor giving the green light for this raw chicken experiment. Which leads me to consider what measures are being taken to reduce the risk of illness.
There could be a few factors at play here.
It is unclear whether prophylactic administration of antibiotics could combat the onslaught of potential harmful pathogens this man is consuming each day in this raw chicken experiment. However, it is a theory tossed around by followers. Certain antibiotics are better than others at killing one type of bacteria or another.
With Salmonella and Campylobacter being the top bad bugs associated with chicken, a prophylactic antibiotic may be answer to how this guy is still alive 41 days so far in this raw chicken experiment.
John indicates that for his raw chicken experiment, he gets his chicken from a particular farm. While this could be an affiliate opportunity for him, it is possible that obtaining the chicken fresh and from a small flock that has a lower incidence of Salmonella and Campylobacter than larger commercial farms has reduced his risk.
Don’t get me wrong. There is still a risk. Again. Do NOT try this at home!
In some of his recipes he uses soy sauce, seasonings, and other high acid ingredients. Certain chili sauces have bacterial inhibiting properties, and many herbs contain antimicrobial compounds. Acids can, in a way, chemically cook chicken to some extent. None of these, however, are the same as cooking chicken to an appropriate internal temperature – which is the only safe way to cook chicken.
The use of these high acid ingredients may contribute to his still being alive.
If I were a gambling person, I would put my money on frozen chicken. Specifically, previously freezing the chicken to slow bacterial growth. It does not truly kill the bacteria, but this method has the best shot at keeping bacterial counts low.
Frozen or not, do NOT try this at home.
The CDC estimates that Salmonella causes more foodborne illnesses than any other bacteria. Chicken is not only one of the most consumed meats in the United States, it is also a major source of foodborne illness.
In fact, “about 1 in every 25 packages of chicken at the grocery store are contaminated with Salmonella.” As a result, about a million cases of Salmonella infections are associated with poultry each year.
To prevent foodborne illness, it is important to handle and cook chicken safely.
Your grandmother may have done it. But then again, there are a lot of old habits that have been proven unsafe over the years. Believe it or not, folks use to get their feet x-rayed in shoes to check the fit. That is, until people started getting foot tumors.
The same goes for the notion of washing raw chicken. Raw chicken does not need to be washed. It should be cooked to an appropriate temperature to kill bacteria anyway.
All washing raw chicken does is potentially spread harmful bacteria around your kitchen. Your sink becomes contaminated and every drop of water that splashes around could be harboring tons of bad bugs, potentially making their way into other dishes. One study showed that 1 in 7 people who cleaned their sink after washing chicken in it, still had germs in their sink.
Keep raw chicken and its juices away from ready-to-eat foods. This includes foods that are already cooked or do not need to be cooked. Store ready-to-eat foods separately. Do not place them on cutting boards or use utensils that have come in contact with raw chicken until they are effectively cleaned and sanitized. If possible, use dedicated cutting boards for poultry products.
When working with raw chicken, hand washing hygiene is very important. After handling raw chicken, be sure to wash your hands.
Use warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds.
It is impossible to tell just by looking at chicken, if it is fully cooked. The only way to determine if chicken is safe to eat is using a food thermometer.
Insert the food thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. Chicken should be cooked until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 °F.
I am certain that this raw chicken experiment does not have chicken cooked to an appropriate 165 °F.
For the last time, I cannot stress this enough. Do NOT try this at home. While the raw chicken experiment may be one man’s social media journey, it is not a safe one. There are many other ways to become Internet famous.
If you’d like to know more about food safety in the news, like Florida Man Documents His Raw Chicken Experiment, check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
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