I'm always scared to eat even slightly red meat. If I have SLIGHTLY undercooked am I guaranteed to get sick?

Question

I'm not going to go around eating red meat all the time, but it ruins lots of meals when I start freaking out about it. I guess I assume I will DEFINITELY get sick if I eat it. The animal actually has to have the disease to make me sick right? LIke, a healthy chicken won't make me sick, it's just a precaution?

Answer 1

some meats need to be thoroughly cooked due to bacteria- chicken and pork need to be cooked fully. beef, such as prime rib, or roasts can be pink to red inside. as long as the outside is cooked. however, ground beef, (ex. hamburgers) has to be cooked through because the grinding process places any bacteria that might be on the outside of the meat and mixes it into the inside.

Don't ever be afraid of a rare steak. chicken & pork or burgers-yes.

Answer 2

Actually, you can eat any meat completely raw and not necessarily get sick. It's all about what bacteria has had a chance to start breeding in the meat and to what extent. If you take a steak out of the freezer, thaw it, then throw it right onto the grill, even if you cook it half-way, there is a very high likelihood that it never had a chance to encounter any bacteria. Thorough cooking is meant to kill the bacteria, whether it's beef, chicken, pork, whatever.

Now, not all bacteria are bad for you. There are millions of bacteria in your body that are essential for life. Even getting a little bit of some bad bacteria may not make you sick. What you mostly have to worry about with cooked meat is that some nasty bacteria has somehow gotten a hold of it and it hasn't been cooked well enough to kill it. This is actually more of a concern with chicken than beef. Then you get to experience food poisoning and hurling your guts up. However, because of the health and sanitation codes restaurants have to follow, it is not likely that your food will be contaminated. True restaurants may not follow tese codes all that strictly, but even then, there is a low chance your food is contaminated. If you're eating at your aunt Lou's, don't worry. As long as she doesn't let the dogs lick the meat first, her handling of the meat will probably be fine.

It's not actually a problem of getting a "disease" from an animal. Many diseases and viruses that are harmful to animals have no effect on humans at all. That's not what people worry about when they worry about undercooked meat. It's those bacteria and if the food is handled properly, it doesn't even matter if it's well cooked.

The worst you have to worry about anyway is puking your guts out for a day or two. Very unpleasant, but nothing to get all freaked out about and not eat your tasty steak.

Answer 3

Trust me, there are people out there who will eat it with a cold center, blood on the plate. Just the sight of it alone almost makes me sick! BUT, In reality, you're not going to get sick eating red meat that is cooked to less than a well done state.

NOW, Don't even think about eating Pork or Chicken unless it is cooked thoroughly. These meats CAN and will easily get you sick if undercooked. I know there's more than one disease - Salmonilla is just the one that comes to mind off the top of my head.

Answer 4

You should never eat undercooked poultry or pork. But red meat WILL NOT make you sick if it's red, unless the animal was diseased. And the chances of that happening are almost nil. Besides, cooking red meat, like a steak, until it's well-done destroys all of the tenderness of the meat. Quit being such a hypochondriac and learn to enjoy it, rather than being freaked out over something so silly.

Answer 5

You'll be fine. Or, try being a vegetarian. Which has no meat, thus no disease. Cool how that works, huh? BTW, you can get sick off of the preservatives and pesticides on fruits and vegetables, too, and dairy products could have been the product of cows with mad cow disease.... life's a crapshoot and puking isn't really that terrible... just eat, enjoy and find something else to go all sociopathic about. Like, who's that? Over there? And why are they looking at me like that?

Answer 6

Chicken is the worst to make you ill if not cooked correctly. It should be white not pink!
Pork is another however pork is the only meat you can re-heat once left to cool.
Lamb is better thoroughly cooked but some do like it slightly pink as they feel it tastes more tender.
Beef is an exception and many like to eat it while it is still 'mooing' on the plate.

As long as you store it correctly in the fridge, pre-heat oven before cooking, and cook according to the guidelines you should have no problems at all.

Answer 7

When you are speaking of poultry or pork it must be fully cooked although 99% of the time you will not get sick if there is a little pinkness to your poultry/pork. When you are speaking of beef, it can basically be eaten RAW if that's the way you like it you carnivore you. Blue rare is the fancy term for RAW beef. I like blue rare steak myself and find it quite humorous when the waitress at the restaurant turns all pale when I order it! Anyway. You won't likely get sick from having a little pinkness in your meat and definitely won't get sick from some pinkness in beef.

Answer 8

Well, first off, you don't want to eat pork or chicken raw. However, some meats, like duck and tuna, are only good slightly rare....just a little cooked on the outside. I personally think that beef is tastier a little on the med. rare side. Most meats have to be inspected before you can buy it anyway. If you are worried, eat it med. rare at restaurants, they have stricter health inspections on their meats than grocery stores. Hey, I love my steaks med. rare...I'm still alive, right?

Answer 9

If it's Red Meat you can't get sick from it(only if it's bad meat). Truthfully, I eat my steak almost rare(you know still kicking and still mooing), It's more tender and juicy. Cut your meat up and use a paper towel to remove the blood so it doesn't run onto your potatoes and vegi, than you won't feel so discusted from it and you'll have the best meal of you life.

Answer 10

I eat rare or medium rare steaks all the time and I haven't ever gotten sick. It hasn't been processed as much and the likelihood that it has been contaminated is much less. Ground meat, however, should be cooked completely though. It has to pass through multiple hands and machines. The chance of contamination is much higher.

Answer 11

I eat all steak rare and have never been sick from it. Chicken, on the other hand, you want cooked all the way through and temperatured at 165 degrees before taking it out of the oven.