# Why is raw chicken the napalm of meats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571 "2012-08-06T00:59:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/41 "2012-08-07T07:40:18Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Contamination can easily spread throughout the muscles via the blood an lymph vessels even without any “beating”. The vertebrate body comes with a system of pipes that is purpose built to \*ensure \*that cells are able to move freely throughout the flesh. I called you out on this bullshit several years ago when you tried to claim the same thing. You produced a cite that said contamination could occur if you deliberate injected e.coli into the veins of a dead animal. Can we see a cite that contamination can occur “easily” through blood and lymph nodes? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/42 "2012-08-07T07:41:45Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Speaking as someone who got a campylobacter infection from undercooked chicken, I’d rather have eaten napalm. I just about managed to avoid going to hospital but it was a close-run thing for a while. Just out of curiosity, how do you know the specific type of infection you had if you didn’t go to the hospital? ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/43 "2012-08-07T07:42:40Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Not quite. Researchers have found that even free-range chickens are contaminated with salmonella. [Yup](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16300088) > [@](#): > > A total of 135 processed free-range chickens from four different commercial free-range chicken producers were sampled in 14 different lots for the presence of Salmonella. Overall, 9 (64%) of 14 lots and 42 (31%) of 135 of the carcasses were positive for Salmonella. No Salmonella were detected in 5 of the 14 lots, and in one lot 100% of the chickens were positive for Salmonella. An additional 53 all-natural (no meat or poultry meal or antibiotics in the feed) processed chickens from eight lots were tested; 25% ofthe individual chickens from 37% of these lots tested positive for Salmonella. Three lots of chickens from a single organicfree-range producer were tested, and all three of the lots and 60% of the individual chickens were positive for Salmonella.The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service reported that commercial chickens processed from 2000 to 2003 had a Salmonella prevalence rate of 9.1 to 12.8%. **Consumers should not assume that free-range or organic conditions will have anything to do with the Salmonella status of the chicken.** ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/44 "2012-08-07T08:20:39Z")
> [@Flaming\_Mame](#): > > …I hear of far more cases of food borne illnesses caused by vegetables. We’ve got killer cantelope. Recalls of bagged salads and spinach. Canned veggie recalls. I can’t remember the last time I heard about an outbreak of food-borne illness caused by chicken, but I can remember the last time I heard of a bad batch of ground beef being sold…it was last week. Cross-contamination. Wiki it We don’t cook our cantaloupe to 165˚F. In fact, we don’t cook our cantaloupe at all, so should some food-born illness causing bacteria contaminate our vegetables, people will get sick. On the other hand, the chicken, nearly guaranteed to be contaminated, will get cooked, and the bacteria will be killed. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/45 "2012-08-07T08:46:44Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Just out of curiosity, how do you know the specific type of infection you had if you didn’t go to the hospital? Because I went to the GP and provided a “sample” for testing. I had a fever of 104 for a couple of days (which was fun) and struggled to remain hydrated as nothing would stay in me. The worst of it was over in a week but it was a pretty bad week. > [@zoid](#): > > Wait till you have a few bad raw oysters. A bad shellfish sick is like no other sick in the world. I honestly thought I would die on my bathroom floor. Same here. One of many reasons I don’t eat oysters. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/46 "2012-08-07T15:53:10Z")
The terms “free-range”, “cage-free”, “organic”, etc. in poultry farming for meat or eggs are essentially meaningless. Large-scale producers still keep birds in overcrowded, filthy conditions. For example, “free-range” can mean that a barn with tens of thousands of birds has one door so small chickens won’t use it, leading to a tiny gravel enclosure. So, yes, they’ll generally have all the same health problems as caged birds. The only way I know of to get better eggs or chicken is to buy locally from somewhere you can visit yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/47 "2012-08-07T21:39:39Z")
I heard once that salmonella vaccines for poultry are extremely cheap, but that the margins are already so thin that no one bothers. I’ll try to look this up when I’m off my phone. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/48 "2012-08-07T22:22:41Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I heard once that salmonella vaccines for poultry are extremely cheap, but that the margins are already so thin that no one bothers. I’ll try to look this up when I’m off my phone. Depending on the poulterer, yes. Though you can buy chicks or setting eggs guaranteed salmonella free [and you can also buy specialty chickens and eggs for lab use that are guaranteed pretty much free of every disease you can think of.] Actually, now I think about it, we did buy salmonella-free chicks one year, and they were innoculated against a couple poultry diseases on top of that. They were a meat specific bird, and we had to get a special vitamin and mineral supplement and feed a high protein diet [otherwise they get myelin sheath and muscle development issues] though they were tasty, we didn’t feel the difference between a general purpose or layer chicken and a broiler was really worth the trouble. The classic lil red hen [rhodes island red] lays brown eggs, and is tasty when cooked. [got some lil red hen chicken fricasse in the fridge for dinner tonight :D] ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/49 "2012-08-08T13:16:57Z")
Frankly, its time that we had irradiation of food. Just enough to kill any bugs-it would be safe,cheap and effective. The example of chicken is key-here we have animals raised in the billions, and found to carry all kinds of bacteria causing human disease-why not sterilize our food? Or become vegetarians. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/50 "2012-08-09T13:02:14Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > I have eaten raw chicken, in a restaurant in Tokyo, with no ill effects. Me too. It was delicious. I also eat tarter steak regularly. Never gotten sick from it. I assume it is handled specially. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571/51 "2012-08-09T13:35:32Z")
The plucking method is a factor in poultry. Duck, geese, and turkeys may have their feathers removed with a hot wax method that has less tendency to cross contaminate and kills some surface bacteria. I haven’t seen anything about this, but I suspect that plucking feathers leaves pores open in fowl that would be an excellent way for bacteria to penetrate beneath the skin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-raw-chicken-the-napalm-of-meats/630571.md?page=2)