A TikToker who posts as @lawnjohnsilver says he was one bite into a piece of Publix fried chicken when he stopped eating altogether. “Pretty sure that’s blood in there,” he says in the video, describing the meat inside as translucent and pink — “definitely not what you want to see,” he added, while saying he hoped he hadn’t gotten sick from what he’d already eaten.
What the Video Actually Shows
The clip, which has drawn roughly 49,000 views, shows a close-up of the chicken’s interior next to Silver’s real-time reaction. He doesn’t claim to know exactly what went wrong — only that the coloring and texture didn’t match what he expected from a fully cooked piece, and that the sight was enough to make him stop eating and start filming.
Why Undercooked Chicken Is a Real Risk, Not Just an Ick Factor
Translucent or pink meat near the bone or center of a piece of fried chicken is one of the more common visual signs that poultry hasn’t reached a safe internal temperature. Properly cooked chicken should reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit throughout, at which point the meat turns opaque and any juices run clear rather than pink. When that threshold isn’t hit, bacteria like salmonella and campylobacter that are common in raw poultry can survive, and both are leading causes of foodborne illness in the U.S. tied specifically to undercooked chicken.
Fried chicken presents a specific version of this problem: a dark, well-browned crust can make a piece look fully cooked on the outside well before the interior actually is, especially on larger cuts or when oil temperature drops during a busy service window. That’s part of why food-safety guidance consistently points people toward checking internal temperature or texture rather than crust color alone.
What to Do If This Happens to You
Grocery store delis and prepared-food counters, including Publix, generally accept returns on food-safety complaints and will refund or replace an item when a customer raises a concern shortly after purchase. Food-safety guidance is consistent on the immediate next step regardless of the retailer: stop eating right away, and if symptoms like nausea, stomach pain, fever, or diarrhea show up in the hours afterward, they’re worth treating seriously rather than waiting out, since symptoms from undercooked poultry can take anywhere from six hours to several days to appear.
The Broader Habit Worth Picking Up
Silver’s video isn’t really an indictment of one store or one batch of chicken — prepared hot food is cooked in volume, and the occasional undercooked piece can slip through even at well-run counters. The habit his video is really arguing for is a simple one: check the center of a thick piece before you’re several bites in, especially with fried chicken, where the crust can hide exactly the kind of problem his video caught on camera.
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