# Is this chicken safe to cook and eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428 "2011-10-12T15:29:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/21 "2011-10-12T19:45:47Z")
“When in doubt, toss it”? What kind of a stupid slogan is that! It’s “When in doubt, throw it out.” See? It rhymes and everything! 😉 And yes, get rid of the chicken. Other meats maybe (MAYBE!) but never chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/22 "2011-10-12T19:49:54Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Funny how these sorts of questions only ever take one of two forms: > > I left some meat unrefrigerated for 15 seconds while I sent a text. It’s going to kill me if I cook it, right? > > or > > I left meat out in the sun for umptybillion weeks and now it’s blue and furry and talking to me. I’m good to cook it, right? Well sure. Anyone who ate the chicken without asking us whether it was safe died. ---
**Author:** ![hazynlazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@hazynlazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazynlazy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/23 "2011-10-12T20:22:01Z")
2 week old chicken?? Gross. Throw it out immediately. If you even have to ask this question, I think you may want to read up on food safety before doing further cooking. Otherwise, you can make yourself quite ill. Old chicken can make you very ill. Chicken is one meat you shouldn’t mess with. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/24 "2011-10-12T20:31:36Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > “When in doubt, toss it”? What kind of a stupid slogan is that! > > It’s “When in doubt, throw it out.” See? It rhymes and everything! 😉 > > And yes, get rid of the chicken. Other meats maybe (MAYBE!) but never chicken. It’s about as stupid as the Canadian McDonald’s coupons that I got recently with “2 Can dine for $3.87” or something like that printed on them. My son even laughed at how ridiculous it was: like could they not add two pennies and make the damned thing rhyme? ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/25 "2011-10-12T20:55:29Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > Hell no. > > If you’re going to freeze something, you freeze it the day you buy it. Quite. A freezer is good at preserving foods when they’re still fresh, but it doesn’t have restorative properties. If you freeze spoiled food, it will still be spoiled when you thaw it out. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/26 "2011-10-12T22:13:37Z")
Safe and palatable are two different things…that are being mixed up by nearly everyone in this thread. 1. The cooties that make you sick and that cooking kills will be killed if you cook it to the correct temperature for enough time, whether there is a single cootie (superfresh) or a bazillion cooties (2 weeks past date, although the refrigeration slowed them down so they really shouldn’t have proliferated as much as if the chicken were left at room temperature). So if you cook it, it won’t make you sick. 2. The cooties that make you sick are not the same cooties that create the stench of decay, which is caused by gases (sulfur dioxide, methane, benzene derivatives and long chain hydrocarbons) and are therefore no indication of whether the chicken is teaming with salmonella or not, only that the flesh of the chicken is being broken down by bacteria that are not illness-producing. (Some cultures make it a point to let certain foods reach an advanced state of decomposition, stench and all, before eating.) 3. None of which matters because the chicken has almost certainly decayed to the point where it will be repulsive to eat, no matter how you cook it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/27 "2011-10-12T23:24:45Z")
Untrue, Stoid. Living creatures will die when cooked, yes. But toxins they produce, including the really fun ones like botulism, will not. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/28 "2011-10-13T00:48:51Z")
FWIW, the wikipedia article on botulism states that the botulinum toxin is destroyed by thorough cooking over the course of a few minutes. I know, it’s wikipedia; I won’t claim it adequately rebuts what you just said, **Zsofia**. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/29 "2011-10-13T00:57:15Z")
I can’t remember if Salmonella produces any heat-stable enterotoxins. Pubmed seems to think it does\*, but I didn’t read any articles thoroughly enough to see if it produces any nasty ones that will survive boiling temps. /edit: \*some strains, at least, obviously not all ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/30 "2011-10-13T01:03:48Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > FWIW, the wikipedia article on botulism states that the botulinum toxin is destroyed by thorough cooking over the course of a few minutes. > > I know, it’s wikipedia; I won’t claim it adequately rebuts what you just said, **Zsofia**. Well, botulism is more of an anaerobic canned food thing, and I suppose we just heat that stuff up more than we “cook” it for extended periods. Prions, on the other hand, definitely will not be denatured by 350 for 20 minutes, although I’ve never heard of a chicken prion disease sweeping the nation. At any rate, if the OP had opened the packaging I HOPE he wouldn’t still have been asking this question. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/31 "2011-10-13T01:36:13Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, botulism is more of an anaerobic canned food thing, and I suppose we just heat that stuff up more than we “cook” it for extended periods. > > Prions, on the other hand, definitely will not be denatured by 350 for 20 minutes, although I’ve never heard of a chicken prion disease sweeping the nation. > > At any rate, if the OP had opened the packaging I HOPE he wouldn’t still have been asking this question. My point was (and is) that any cooties that would make you ill when the chicken is old would have made you ill when the chicken was fresh. Any cooties that would have been killed off by adequate cooking when the chicken was fresh will be killed off by adequate cooking when the chicken is old. In other words, the only thing being past date will do is make the chicken increasingly disgusting, not increasingly dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/32 "2011-10-13T01:52:20Z")
Ever wondered what “Botox” means? > [@Stoid](#): > > My point was (and is) that any cooties that would make you ill when the chicken is old would have made you ill when the chicken was fresh. Any cooties that would have been killed off by adequate cooking when the chicken was fresh will be killed off by adequate cooking when the chicken is old. > > In other words, the only thing being past date will do is make the chicken increasingly disgusting, not increasingly dangerous. Quoted for untruth. That may have been your point, but it is not what you said. You said, specifically: “So if you cook it, _it won’t make you sick_.” This is both wrong and very bad advice. (It’s a common misconception - I learned this on the SDMB myself.) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/33 "2011-10-13T02:05:24Z")
Certain organisms, including species of clostridium are spore producing anaerobes. In the presence of oxygen the bacteria sporulate and are inactive and highly resistant to being killed. The spores survive normal cooking temps, and when they hit the gut they germinate (as the gut is primarily oxygen-free) into metabolically active vegetative cells that cause illness that we call food poisoning. Poultry is particularly at risk or carrying such spores. The greater the number of spores, the more likely you are to be ill or the sicker you can be. B. cereus is another such org. So while those spores are not related to spoilage, it is absolutely not true that cooking food that is contaminated with rid you of harmful bacteria. I wanted to make sure that bit of misinformation didn’t stand. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/34 "2011-10-13T02:14:13Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Ever wondered what “Botox” means?Quoted for untruth. > > That may have been your point, but it is not what you said. You said, specifically: “So if you cook it, _it won’t make you sick_.” > > This is both wrong and very bad advice. > > (It’s a common misconception - I learned this on the SDMB myself.) ??? What I said was: > [@](#): > > _ **The cooties that make you sick and that cooking kills** _ will be killed if you cook it to the correct temperature for enough time, _**whether there is a single cootie (superfresh)**_ _ **or a bazillion cooties** _ (2 weeks past date, although the refrigeration slowed them down so they really shouldn’t have proliferated as much as if the chicken were left at room temperature). _ **So if you cook it, it won’t make you sick.** _ Restated: The kind of cooties that can be killed by cooking will always be killed by cooking, no matter how old the chicken is when you cook it. I did not say that all or any cooties of any kind will always be killed by cooking, and it appears thats’ what you think I said. Ditto to you, Ivory. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/35 "2011-10-13T02:16:28Z")
“…it won’t make you sick” is fairly unambiguous **Stoid**. It’s OK to admit you made a mistake sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/36 "2011-10-13T02:36:56Z")
As an interesting FYI: Scombroid poisoning. > **[Histamine Toxicity from Fish: Practice Essentials, Pathophysiology, Etiology](https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1009464-overview)** > > Histamine fish poisoning is among the most common toxicities related to fish ingestion, constituting almost 40% of all seafood-related food-borne illnesses reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Histamine fish poisoning... [http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/Seafood/FoodbornePathogensContaminants/ScombrotoxinPoisoningDecomposition/default.htm](http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/Seafood/FoodbornePathogensContaminants/ScombrotoxinPoisoningDecomposition/default.htm) This food poisoning is caused by eating spoiled (not just contaminated) fish. The bacteria breakdown muscle fiber during spoiling to produce a toxin that is not destroyed by cooking. It is one of the top four causes of seafood poisoning. My point earlier was to ensure that no one walked away with the mistaken impression that cooking contaminated food will necessarily prevent food borne illnesses. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/37 "2011-10-13T02:46:15Z")
I can tell by your post that you have never gotten food poisoning from chicken. It makes flu look like fun. I refuse to play food roulette. There’s three of us and one bathroom. The math just doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/38 "2011-10-13T02:52:15Z")
> [@stolatt](#): > > I can tell by your post that you have never gotten food poisoning from chicken. It makes flu look like fun. I refuse to play food roulette. There’s three of us and one bathroom. The math just doesn’t work. My post? ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/39 "2011-10-13T02:54:47Z")
As my Health Inspector Husband 'ALWAYS" say when in doubt THROW it OUT! ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428/40 "2011-10-13T02:55:14Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > My post? I think the OP, for the same reason that I don’t piss around with getting a flu shot anymore. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-chicken-safe-to-cook-and-eat/599428.md?page=3)