People with 'chicken anxiety' are terrified they're not cooking the meat properly — here's how to tell when it's safe to eat

• TikTokers are sharing their experience with "chicken anxiety."
• They fear consuming undercooked chicken, which can cause illness.

Chicken is a staple in homes across the world.

However, it's common to be concerned about cooking it properly. After all, consuming undercooked chicken could cause serious food poisoning.

And now TikTokers are opening up about their "chicken anxiety" — or fear of undercooking the poultry — on the platform, with some going viral.

'Chicken anxiety' is a common food phobia

On TikTok, the #chickenanxiety tag has over 70.5 million views as of Tuesday.

TikToker @anysiaaa went viral after posting a video of herself cooking chicken on August 14. As of Tuesday, the video — captioned: "POV: you have chicken anxiety and the big pieces are extra sus" — has over 11 million views.

Other TikTok users have left comments on the video saying they've had similar experiences.

"I swear my chicken anxiety eventually led to me veganism," one user wrote.

"I will always defend the fact I cut my chicken open to check it," another said. "Chicken anxiety is real!!!"

"Fellow chicken anxiety sufferer here," another said.

Likewise, @chandlermarieking posted a video about her chicken anxiety to the platform in November 2022. As of Tuesday, it has over 21 million views.

"One thing about me is — you will never eat a whole chicken breast at my house, because of my chicken anxiety," she captioned the video of herself cutting into chicken being cooked in a skillet. "I have to cut and inspect each and every inch to visually ensure it's done."

And @staceygrant referred to her chicken anxiety as a "bad habit" in a video from March 2022.

In the clip, she cuts into each individual piece of chicken she cooked, examining the interior color.

Although discussion of chicken anxiety is common on TikTok, people haven't only discussed the fear on the app.

There's a Reddit thread from 2020 where one user shared their concerns over cooking the meat in a post titled, "Extreme anxiety when cooking chicken." Reddit users in the thread suggested various methods they use to cook chicken safely and avoid food poisoning.

Chicken that hasn't been cooked properly could cause serious food poisoning

Undercooked chicken is often contaminated with bacteria like Campylobacter, Salmonella, or Clostridium perfringens, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). Consuming these bacteria can cause people to get sick with food poisoning and experience symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, or, in rare cases, death.

To confirm chicken is properly cooked, the CDC recommends checking its internal temperature with a thermometer to ensure it's at or above 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Some people with chicken anxiety might try to wash raw chicken before cooking it, but this can actually backfire by spreading more bacteria around the kitchen. People who have chicken anxiety may also overcook their chicken in an attempt to avoid getting sick. But overcooked chicken can be dry and chewy, so it's not fun to eat either.

The best way to check to see if your chicken is done may not be your go-to method

Some of the most common ways people confirm their chicken is properly cooked is seeing if the juices that run out of the chicken are clear, checking the color of the exterior, or cutting into the chicken to see if it is white in the middle.

But as Insider's Gabby Landsverk previously reported, a study from Public Library of Science journal PLOS ONE published in 2020 found that those methods aren't entirely reliable, as traces of the harmful bacteria can persist even if the juices are clear or the chicken looks cooked.

Instead, if you don't want to use a thermometer, it's best to thoroughly cook all sides of the chicken's exterior and check to see what the center of the chicken looks like, as Dr. Solveig Langsrud, the lead author of the study, said in his research.

"Primarily, consumers should check that all surfaces of the meat are cooked, as most bacteria are present on the surface. Secondly, they should check the core. When the core meat is fibrous and not glossy, it has reached a safe temperature," he said in a press release about the study, as Landsverk reported.

You should also examine chicken you are served at restaurants and shouldn't hesitate to send the food back if you fear it isn't properly cooked, according to the CDC. Avoiding illness is worth the momentary discomfort.