The CDC and USDA released a new infographic on cooking chicken liver safely. The text of the infographic is below. See the full infographic here.
Chefs, Cooks, and Caterers: Cook Chicken Liver Like It’s Chicken (It Is):
Cook Chicken Liver to 165°F
Always Cook Chicken Liver All the Way through
- Use a food thermometer (you can’t tell by looking).
- Cook the inside of the liver to 165°F, just like you would for other chicken parts.
Bacteria Inside + Partial Cooking = Recipe for Illness
- You might be used to leaving the middle rare when cooking chicken liver for pâté and similar dishes.
- But Campylobacter is a type of bacteria that can live inside chicken liver. If the middle isn’t cooked to 165°F, bacteria can survive and cause illness.
- Most often: cramps, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), fever
- Less often: life-threatening illness, or even death (older people, pregnant women, and very young children are at higher risk)
Proper Cooking Can Prevent Illnesses
- U.S. outbreaks from eating undercooked chicken liver are on the rise. Most are associated with restaurants.
- In one outbreak, the restaurant went out of business after customers ate undercooked chicken liver and got sick.
- Chefs, cooks, and caterers are key to helping prevent these outbreaks.