Infographic on Cooking Chicken Liver

Chefs, Cooks, and Caterers: Cook Chicken Liver Like It’s Chicken (It Is):

Cook Chicken Liver to 165°F

Always Cook Chicken Liver All the Way through

• Use a food thermometer (you can’t tell by looking).
• Cook the inside of the liver to 165°F, just like you would for other chicken parts.

Bacteria Inside + Partial Cooking = Recipe for Illness

• You might be used to leaving the middle rare when cooking chicken liver for pâté and similar dishes.
• But Campylobacter is a type of bacteria that can live inside chicken liver. If the middle isn’t cooked to 165°F, bacteria can survive and cause illness.
  • Most often: cramps, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), fever
  • Less often: life-threatening illness, or even death (older people, pregnant women, and very young children are at higher risk)

Proper Cooking Can Prevent Illnesses

• U.S. outbreaks from eating undercooked chicken liver are on the rise. Most are associated with restaurants.

• In one outbreak, the restaurant went out of business after customers ate undercooked chicken liver and got sick.

• Chefs, cooks, and caterers are key to helping prevent these outbreaks.

Learn more: www.fsis.usda.gov/ChickenLiverexternal icon