Hi, I've just prepared my sons sandwiches for tomorrow now worried if it's ok? I purchased a packet of thinly sliced cooked chicken from M&S this afternoon, some of the slices look slightly pink, and there is a few little red specks I've picked the clearest of the meat & made the sandwiches but I'm worried. Don't want to make him ill, yet part of me feels I should be able to trust M&S Any advice please x
Just because you ate undercooked chicken in a foreign country, it has no bearing on whether cooked sliced chicken from M&S will make the eater ill. Two totally different scenarios. Should everyone eating chicken Korma throw it out as they can't see to check the colour of the chicken pieces?
I would eat it. My 30 year old son would too. His GF from Poland said her mum (same age as me) was petrified of salmonella. Can't say I blame her.
We made roast turkey for Christmas, undercooked to keep it moist but got nowhere near the bone. Recooked well done in a curry. Son's GF sad it was the first time she enjoyed Turkey. Of course she may have been polite but she has just asked to come for dinner next week.
I googled Sir Hugh. What an interesting person. He's still alive at 81 with all his experience of eating dodgy food. That's good enough for me. When I was pregnant, I was careful as it wasn't about me.
If the sandwiches are in date and have been refrigerated, I don't see the problem.
Deedum has set the record straight re making her son's sandwiches. There's nothing wrong with a bit of give and take in a family and, without knowing the people involved or the family dynamic, why do posters so quickly jump to conclusions?
Bin the sandwiches DeeDum...I ate a meal of undercooked chicken on holiday a few years ago ...I was so ill with salmonella poisoning I ended up in hospital. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy!
The great Sir Hugh Pennington when asked if on being presented with pink chicken meat would he eat it he said yes. Think a few pink spots would be fine.
jaylucy I've heard that too. I was also once told that the meat of very young chickens stays pink after thorough cooking. DeeDum I'm normally very relaxed about food hygiene, but having kept poultry ourselves for 16 years I'm very suspicious about mass poultry rearing and would never buy 'cooked' chicken.
If there are pink bits on cooked sliced chicken it is usually because the chickens were broilers - used for egg production. My father did explain why they were like that, but can't remember - it's the same when you get reddish brown meat from a roast chicken. I'd say it would be fine - doesn't look too nice, I know. Contact M&S with your concerns if you are still not happy.
Your first thought at seeing red on chicken is that it is overcooked, but if you carve well-cooked chicken off the bone you will notice that where it touches the bone itself the meat is often reddish-brown. Is that what you saw?
If you still don't like the look of it, take it back to M&S and ask THEM if it is OK. If it is undercooked, they can pass it on to the suppliers and make sure it doesn't happen again. Just binning it without informing them isn't completely putting the problem right.
Chicken stays pink sometimes depending on how it's baked. Doesn't mean it's not cooked. If it was in date and smelled ok, it's fine. The red specks are nothing to worry about. Chickens have blood.
Don’t do it. Chicken should not be used in sandwiches unless they can be refrigerated. If it’s pink do not risk it. These meats may have a quality label but they are processed in huge factories and travel miles before ending up on the supermarkets shelves. I was hospitalised with campylobacter last year, I was seriously ill. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
I've seen little red traces on chicken slices from Marks/Waitrose (other supermarkets are available) and it's always fine. Like you I pick the clearest of the meat and the give the pink bits to the dog.