Does store bought fully cooked rotisserie chicken need to be reheated to 165 degrees

chickenfood-safetyreheatingtemperature

A little confusion on my part: I have a fully cooked whole rotisserie chicken which I put in the fridge. I read or google that when reheating to serve I should make sure it reaches 165 degrees.

Since the chicken is already cooked why do I need to reach 165 degrees? I could just as well eat it cold, no?

It says the same thing on the directions on the package it came in: 165 degrees. What am I missing here?

Best Answer

This is actually the recommendation of a lot of mass produced items.

They might have been contaminated after being made, and the producer wants to ensure that you kill anything that might have been introduced.

A cynic would also point out that this shifts liability to the consumer, as if you get sick from it, they can insist that you didn’t follow their reheating instructions.