Celebrity chefs or scientists: who should you listen to when it comes to cooking?
The rise of the celebrity chef in recent years seems to be having an effect on the way we like to cook our food. Gone are the days of cooking meat until it resembles the sole of your shoe; these days, we are encouraged to leave certain meats pink in the middle for better taste and texture.
Scientists have shown, however, that getting more adventurous in the kitchen can bring added risks to our health. One example is that of chicken or duck livers, often used to make popular pates. There is an increased tendency to slightly undercook the livers, but this does not eliminate bugs such as Campylobacter.
Recent research conducted by the University of Aberdeen involved purchasing and testing raw chicken livers that had been bought at both supermarkets and butchers over a two-year period. The results showed that more than eighty per cent of the chicken livers purchased contained Campylobacter.
Another study also revealed that the bug is sometimes present throughout the liver tissue, meaning that only by thoroughly cooking the liver can you be sure that the bugs have been eliminated. Food safety training can help staff working with food to produce good food that will not put people’s health at risk.