On man’s trash is another man's delicacy, in this case, one man's salmonella is another man’s specialty. Raw chicken, the sight alone is enough to send even the most adventurous foodies into a head spin, however, daring diners in Japan have been tucking into plates of the stuff and calling it chicken sashimi for a while now.
And it's dangerous, very dangerous. A new study published in the British Medical Journal shows how a Japanese man was omitted to Saiseikai Fukuoka General Hospital in Japan after he had “eaten seared chicken sashimi several times”.
The man, who joined hundreds of social media users who have posted videos of themselves tucking into full plates of raw chicken, ended up with growths on his liver and lungs after contracting Toxocariasis: a parasitic disease caused by roundworm larvae, linked largely to undercooked meat.
Chicken sashimi is often quickly seared or boiled before serving but, as you can see from the video, the chicken lands very raw. Many of the places that sell it claim to have developed strong relationships direct with farmers who can ensure the chickens they use are raised correctly, but the risks of contamination are massive.
Chicken is packed with all sorts of nasty bacteria, two of the main culprits beings campylobacter and salmonella: both of which can cause serious food poisoning, even death. That’s before you start to think about parasites and the potential for the roundworm larvae that caused the above mentioned Japanese man to have growths on two of his organs, and an illness that, if left untreated, could have caused blindness.
We're say stay clear and demand some sear, because this, it's all too much!