Will my DH have given DS food poisoning?

[BBQbarbie]

We’ve got some cold chicken legs - ready to eat in the fridge. DS (5) said he doesn’t like them cold, my DH decided to warm them up in the air fryer for a few minutes then gave to DS. He’s now eaten them. I’ve come downstairs and he’s told me this and I’m not impressed. DH said because they’re fine to eat cold then it won’t be a problem. But I thought chicken needed to be cooked through to piping hot, even if it’s ready to eat.

He'll probably be completely fine

I wouldn’t have given this a second thought, I’m sure he’ll be fine

Omg he's an idiot. I'd seriously send him on a food safety course

Why would warming something that's perfectly edible cold be a problem?! The heat won't have transported bacteria into it!

This is fine, as long as it wasn't out of date etc it will be fine. I sometimes heat ready cooked chicken if I'm making something really fast.

He will be fine

It will be fine, the piping hot thing is just to kill the bacteria the first time the meat is cooked. In your chicken, they were already dead.

In the 5 minutes it’s taken for them to go from fridge to fryer to eaten I doubt if more than about 2 bacteria will have grown. Probably none

What? It's already cooked so heating it is fine?

Heating doesn't add bacteria suddenly. He ate it straight away. The problem is leaving it to grow bacteria after reheating.

Why would you not be 'impressed' with your DH rather than simply Googling?

It's perfectly fine to reheat cooked chicken in an air fryer, as long as he warmed them to the correct temperature.

So
Pre cooked chicken =minimal bacteria and minimal growth at fridge temp
Five minutes in air fryer =maybe 3 minutes in danger zone temp
Eating time =maybe another five minutes in the danger zone?
So 8 minutes of ‘risk’ before it’s eaten and any bacteria is subjected to stomach acid. It’s fine

It’s literally fine. He reheated the cooked chicken safely.

All guidelines say that chicken should be reheated to at least 75°C, so as long as it reached that temp it'll be fine. It'd probably be fine anyway even if not heated to that temp, food poisoning is not a guarantee or even a likelihood even if food hasn't been reheated properly, it's just a possibility.

I don’t know if it reached that temp as it only went in the air fryer for a couple of minutes and he didn’t check the temperature.

Why? What kind of danger is introduced by warming food that is fully cooked and can be eaten cold?

It's fine. If it was raw then it'd be a problem. You can eat cooked chicken cold, mildly warmed or piping hot as long as the meat has not sat at room temperature for a while.

I’m with you. I thought bacteria was ‘woken up’ at a certain temperature but ‘killed off’ once piping hot- even if the food was already cooked

I did complete a food hygiene certificate as part of my job (despite never handling food!) and this is certainly how I understood it.

It’s likely he’ll be fine but I also wouldn’t be impressed!

Do people not eat fully cooked but cold chicken these days? I love a chicken sandwich from Tesco.
Why does ready cooked poultry need reheating if appropriately chilled and in date? Do the instructions say it needs reheating ?

Personal preference.

The DS said he doesn't like them cold. It's in the OP.

The point is that if it had been heated by your DH in the air fryer then left to stand around for 24 hours there MAY have been time for harmful bacteria to grow. But it wasn't it was warmed up then immediately eaten, bacteria will not have developed and multiplied in that 5 minute period.

Its fine.

Bacteria multiplies quicker at certain temperatures. Which is why we have fridges. It’s not “woken up” it’s just sped up but if you eat it within minutes the speeding up will be negligible.

@Pippa12 (and @BBQbarbie )you’re partially correct. Heat will kill bacteria and cold deactivates them. Presuming the cold cooked chicken has been stored correctly since cooking (so would have contained very few bacteria) you can reheat to a moderate temperature then eat immediately as there won’t have been time for bacteria to be introduced then multiply. It’s fine op.

If it’s gone from fridge, to fryer, to mouth - he’s going to be perfectly fine.

if you reheat chicken it must be heated all the way through. Its basic food safety hygiene. If not there is a risk of food poisoning..
Having said that it doesn't mean that in most cases it is probably completely fine, and chances are your son will be perfectly ok.