# Just ate raw chicken - what to do now? how worried should we be?



## Hokulele

Tonight we ordered out and got chicken skewers. DH ate two while I was putting the kids to bed then I ate 1/2 of one before I noticed they are raw and pink on the inside. Ugh!

So - what can we do now to reduce our risk of developing something? (I'm BFing a 4 month old.)

How worried should we be that we are going to get sick?


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## Juvysen

hmm... I guess I wouldn't be *that* worried. You might consider taking some immune boosters (like airborne or something, maybe?). I don't think you have to worry about passing it to your nursling. Things like that don't pass through your milk.

Did your child have any? If so, you might call the ped. She's probably more susceptible than you.


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## amcal

Worrying won't do you any good. Chances are you'll be fine but, you'll know soon enough. If you develop diarrhea or vomiting, I would monitor the severity and then make decision from there but, I think you're probaby fine.


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## Sotevenn

Maybe charcoal tablets or activated charcoal capsuls - find them in the pharmacy (I've never taken them, just heard they can help). How about boosting intake of probiotics - I think I read some of them can protect you from harmful bacteria? Make sure you have electrolyte drinks (or know how to make your own) and other comfort measures in case you do get sick.


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## whalemilk

Most food-borne illnesses will show up in the first 12 hours, 24 hours at the most. Salmonella can hit in as little as 4. So if you're going to get sick, it will likely be soon. I'd just make sure you're well hydrated for now, just in case. Chances are if the chicken was relatively fresh and had been stored properly, you'll be fine regardless.


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## Hokulele

Thanks for the responses. Ugh! It just a bad feeling to look at something you've been eating and realize it wasn't good.

Well, thankfully my older DD did not eat any of the chicken we had, so I'm glad about that.

I just went to the only store open at this time of night around here and bought Kefir and other probiotic stuff. Hopefully that will help.

Now I guess it is just wait-and-see.


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## dogmom327

I'd be loading up on kefir. Hope you guys feel okay tomorrow! I think your odds of there not being a problem are really good.


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## Mirzam

Considering people eat raw meat on purpose for health reasons- me included - not that I am overly fond of the texture of raw chicken - I wouldn't give it a moments thought. FWIW, My DH and I have been eating raw meat for over ten years and not once have we gotten sick.


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## Juvysen

How'd it go?


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## the_lissa

I would also call teh restaurant to complain and inform public health. Over 100 people here were sickened with e. coli from eating undercooked hamburgers from a restaurant.


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## Defenestrator

I think you have very little to worry about. Bacteria live on the outside of meat, not on the inside. People get sick from hamburgers because of the small particles which were exposed to the outside air which are now in the center of the burger. If the outside of the chicken were cooked it would be no more dangerous than eating a rare steak.


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## Hokulele

Wow - thanks for the great responses! I didn't know people ate raw meat for health reasons - that is very interesting and reassuring.

We are doing fine! DH mentioned stomach problems yesterday (less than 24 hours after we ate the raw stuff) and I thought "oh no, here we go" but it turned out he just had missed lunch!!!!

I'm a freak about this stuff. During my older DD's first year I had food-related illnesses FOUR times! Sheer bad luck, but wow did it make me paranoid about food!


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## Porcelain Interior

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Defenestrator* 
I think you have very little to worry about. Bacteria live on the outside of meat, not on the inside. People get sick from hamburgers because of the small particles which were exposed to the outside air which are now in the center of the burger. If the outside of the chicken were cooked it would be no more dangerous than eating a rare steak.

This is absolutely false. Salmonella is carried INSIDE of warm blooded animals, it doesn't just appear on the skin of slaughtered animals exposed to air. It is inside the tissues and vessels.

Hamburger often contains e-coli because of the manner of slaughter, it's often messy and feces/bowels often come into contact with meat that is ground up into hamburger. Exposing meat to air doesn't cause it to become contaminated.

Any food safety class will give you basic food safety information, and it is absolutely false that bacteria on meat is only on the outside, and that by cooking the outside you are safe.

If that were true there wouldn't be thousands sickened every year by improperly cooked turkeys, not to mention those roaster chickens that sit under warming lamps for hours waiting for someone to buy them- they make people sick because they weren't brought to temperature throughout- and then they sit under a lamp in the danger zone and the remaining bacteria has a field day and breeds like mad.

Always bring the internal temperature of your meat to a safe level. Cooking the outside does not make it safe. That's like washing your hands with gloves on what good does that do?

My husband is a chef, and there is so much misinformation out there about food safety. Be safe, and I encourage everyone to take a class or read a book about food safety. There are many ways food becomes contaminated:

Improper handwashing by the person cooking the food, even a healthy person that uses the restroom and doesn't wash their hands can make people sick with germs that live inside our lower intestines that get transmitted onto our hands
Handling raw meats and cross contaminated food that won't get cooked- like lettuce
Meat that has bad bacteria in it being improperly cooked
Food that is improperly stored and held at unsafe temperatures.

OP I think you are out of the danger zone.


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## kristenyostdc

I'm glad you all are ok! I would be so totally paranoid also. I freak out with stuff like that!


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## Hokulele

Porcelain - thanks for all the great info. There IS a lot of misinformation out there. After we ate the raw meat, I did some online searching for info. It is impossible to figure out what is a real concern and what isn't, based on random web searching.


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## Love my 2

Just for future reference, if you ever think you've eaten something bad, or start to feel bad after eating something, try activated charcoal. You can get it in capsule form, it helps to absorb the toxins.


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## grisandole

Clay also works for absorbing toxins...you can usually get bentonite clay at the HFS. Clay, probiotics, and some vit. C as a general immune booster.

The exact same thing happened to me when ds1 was two months old. I was driving cross-country...just me and the kids...got chicken skewers and after eating a bit noticed they were totally raw in the middle. Fortunately, nothing happened.


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## MaterPrimaePuellae

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Defenestrator* 
I think you have very little to worry about. Bacteria live on the outside of meat, not on the inside. People get sick from hamburgers because of the small particles which were exposed to the outside air which are now in the center of the burger. If the outside of the chicken were cooked it would be no more dangerous than eating a rare steak.

I *think* you are partially right, here. When I was researching venison prep, I read on one site that if it is whole pieces of meat it only needs to be cooked to internal temp of 140 degrees, but if it is ground it needs to be cooked to internal temp of 160-165, because the bacteria on the outside (I guess that would be e-coli or toxoplasmosis (sp?)) are killed at 160.

I read that days ago, though, so that's just what I remember.









PorcelainInterior, that is all great info! Thanks!


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