Emma Woodward/TikTok
- A woman went viral for posting a TikTok of herself eating raw chicken.
- In the video, which has over 800,000 views, she claimed it was the reason she never got sick.
- Insider spoke with two medical professionals who both said eating raw chicken is "a bad idea."
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
A woman went viral on TikTok after she posted a video that appeared to show herself eating raw diced chicken – and baselessly claimed it was why she never got sick.
In the video posted by @emmawoodward16, a man picks up what he calls "natural chicken," and asks the woman if she'd like some. She then eats it. "Why I'm never ill" appears as text over the video, which was posted on Monday.
The video has over 868,000 views and 43,000 likes as of Thursday afternoon.
Though the video's creator claimed that eating raw chicken kept her from being "ill," that is false, and it can actually cause illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and two doctors interviewed by Insider.
Dr. Snehalata Topgi, an emergency room physician in New York City, told Insider that raw chicken has harmful bacteria that can "change the flora in your colon," which is the "good bacteria" found in a person's stomach.
Topgi and Dr. Mel Kramer, an infectious disease epidemiologist, both told Insider the same thing: consuming raw chicken is a "bad idea."
Raw chicken is "usually" bad because "it's highly susceptible to bacteria like salmonella or campylobacter," Topgi told Insider. Salmonella is a pathogen that lives in the intestinal tract of humans and animals and is excreted through animal feces, according to the CDC. It can also cause food poisoning symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhea, the CDC's website says.
Kramer, who is also the CEO of EHA Consulting Group, an environmental and public health consulting firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, told Insider that in addition to food poisoning, there is a possibility of death or long-term illness. Raw chicken may contain bacteria that could lead to septic arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, or Guillain-Barré syndrome, a chronic condition that can lead to partial paralysis. Those who are immunocompromised or have underlying medical conditions are at a higher risk for these diseases and even death, Kramer said.
Kramer and Topgi both encouraged following CDC guidelines when handling raw chicken, such as cooking it to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit and not washing it, because if the chicken is contaminated, salmonella particles can end up all over the kitchen sink.
While the video does not appear to be part of a trend, many TikTok trends do involve consuming dangerous foods. Last year, the platform struggled to remove videos of creators participating in the nutmeg challenge, as users ate excessive amounts of nutmeg, which can lead to a dangerous high.
Insider reached out to the TikTok user for comment but did not immediately hear back.