If you’ve spent much time at all in the healthy eating sphere, then you’ll have heard all about how healthy liver is for you, especially raw liver. To make sure that it’s safe to eat, many bloggers and wellness sites recommend freezing raw liver first. But is that really true, and does freezing raw liver make it safe to eat?

The benefits of liver

Ancient cultures have consumed raw liver for centuries. It offers loads of health benefits, and a wide spectrum of fat-soluble vitamins, including the most concentrated source of vitamin A, and all of the B vitamins. The liver’s most intriguing benefit is something simply known as an “anti-fatigue factor.”

With all of these benefits, and since liver is such a nutrient dense food, you may have notions to run out to the store and grab a few for dinner. Hold off on that thought though, as store bought conventional liver should definitely be avoided! The liver works as a filter in the body, but it doesn’t typically store toxins.

The importance of grass fed

When cows become overburdened by routine antibiotic use, grains coated in toxic pesticides and other byproducts of factory farming, then it takes a toll on their main detox organ the liver. It’s not uncommon for cows to develop scar tissue on the liver from eating grains. Cows aren’t designed to digest grains. Grassfed liver is also much higher in nutrition. For me personally, it’s also an ethical choice to consume cows allowed to live and eat as God designed them.

Freezing raw liver

So what’s the best way to eat liver? I’ve seen plenty of recipes for frozen liver “pills”, or suggestions to throw a chunk of raw liver in with your morning smoothie to hide the taste. It’s recommended, even by the Weston A. Price foundation itself, to freeze liver before eating it raw.

“Fourteen days will ensure the elimination of pathogens and parasites.”

Wanting to eat healthy, I ate raw liver for a while, but then I started questioning whether or not there was any truth behind the recommendation to freeze it for 2 weeks first, so I did some digging.

Can You Eat Raw Liver?

Freezing doesn’t kill many pathogens and instead helps preserve or even strengthen them in the process. Freezing also kills some bacteria and parasites, but not others.  Even if the liver is from a high quality, grass-fed source, there is still a risk that needs mentioning.

While the risk is less if you were using raw grass-fed liver, it’s still entirely possible to contract parasites, and it has happened.   This article discusses the fact that -4 degrees Fahrenheit is needed to kill parasites in fish, which not all home freezers are able to do, and even then certain parasites won’t be killed by freezing.

This 2008 study in Parasitology, Toxocariasis, and Ingestion of Raw Cow Liver found an increased risk of roundworms. Over 87% of the group with parasites and positive serum tests said they had recently eaten raw liver.

“Multivariate statistical analysis showed that a recent history of eating raw cow liver was related to an increased risk of toxocariasis (roundworm infection).”

What’s actually in that liver?

So what exactly can be lurking in that tasty liver? This study showed that E-coli, listeria, and staphylococci bacteria were present in various frozen cuts of beef. And if you thought that freezing reduces harmful pathogens, then you may be surprised to find that E.coli and other pathogens are actually best preserved through freezing.

Salmonella, which can be found in raw beef products, is also not killed by freezing temperatures.  This study found that freezing E-coli inoculated meat actually enhanced the e-coli survival with a longer freezing time and did not kill salmonella. Even more disturbing, is the fact that not only does freezing meat not kill bacteria, but food that is thawed or partially thawed will harbor more resistant bacteria once it’s re-thawed.  This is especially concerning since people are partially thawing their liver to cut into pills before re-freezing.

A dangerous game

So to sum it all up, no. Freezing raw liver for 14 days will not make it safe to eat and kill dangerous pathogens in it. Eating raw liver, especially semi-thawed and then refrozen liver, increases the risk of contracting something nasty. Even though cultures have done it for centuries, I don’t feel comfortable eating raw liver or recommending it.

It’s up to you

There are risks and benefits to everything and eating raw liver carries a risk of pathogen and parasite exposure.  I don’t know what percentage of grass-fed beef liver may contain pathogens, maybe it’s a small amount, maybe not.

Many in the natural food community have consumed raw liver without negative effects. However, I feel like that’s playing a bit of Russian roulette. Regardless of whether or not you decide to consume raw liver though, freezing it does not only NOT reduce pathogens, but may make them worse. So if you want to eat raw liver, it doesn’t seem necessary to freeze it first for any safety reasons.

Many, including my husband, eat undercooked beef without issue. However raw liver may cause more problems than we realize.

How to safely (and tastelessly) consume liver

Since freezing raw liver doesn’t make it safer, and I hate the taste of liver anyway, how do you get a good dose of old fashioned liver in your diet? Liver pate with bacon and onions isn’t all that bad and makes a great veggie or chip dip.

Another option is liver capsules. You can buy premade desiccated liver pills, or you can make your own. I dehydrated the liver at 150 degrees, ground it in a coffee grinder, then made pills with a pill encapsulator machine.

Do you eat raw liver, or do you plan on changing how you eat liver? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to share this post with a friend!

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