Stop washing raw chicken, food agency advises

[jason]

ulia Child and other old cookbooks may tell you to wash raw chicken before cooking, but health agencies are warning against it.

The British Food Standards Agency has joined the chorus that advises to stop rinsing off raw chicken. The agency contends that 65 per cent of all raw chicken is contaminated with campylobacter, which causes food poisoning.

Cooking kills the bacteria; washing raw chicken just spreads it around the kitchen, the FSA says.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has long warned against spreading campylobacter through raw food, including chicken, and advised washing hands and surfaces with soap and water after handling.

Campylobacter jejuni, which can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, is found in the intestines of poultry, cattle and pigs. It is responsible for up to 14 per cent of the cases of diarrhea, according to Ontario’s Workplace Safety & Insurance Board.

more http://www.healthzone.ca/health/articlePrint/843690

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I never knew you were supposed to wash raw chicken.

 

[Joyce]

My husband used to work in a chicken plant and he had campylobacteria (campi) for short and he was sick for days with it. Diarrhea and vomiting, it was awful.

 

[Jimmy]

If it's so bad, why haven't we heard about it 'till now. That, and why are governmental agencies letting plants process chickens if the process is harmful to humans?

 

[Saffron]

What this article suggests and recommends makes a lot of sense, but washing off meat prior to cooking is a practice that has been ingrained in most of us since we began cooking.

And quite honestly, at least for me even though I can see the sense of it, this would be a really difficult practice to eliminate from my cooking regime.

 

[Maternal]

Thanks for posting the important news. That's terrible. Who do you think are responsible for the mess, the chicken livestock or the packers? Thanks God I am not a big fan of chicken myself.

 

[Clover]

Is anyone familiar with the conditions inside a slaughter house? Given the conditions that cause these kinds of viruses/bacteria in the first place, how can you let someone tell you washing your chicken is harmful? I'm so glad I live on a farm.

 

[hakimah]

I wash my chicken but I'm so wary of salmonella that I use those Clorox wipes in the kitchen for when I clean up after working with raw meat. So, hopefully my family's covered.

 

[Nature]

Thanks for posting the important news. That's terrible. Who do you think are responsible for the mess, the chicken livestock or the packers? Thanks God I am not a big fan of chicken myself.

but chicken is good for you it is a big building block in mussel building you need your chicken

 

[natural1]

I always wash my chicken before cooking it. It seems to me that every day they come up with another way to get sick. I`m sticking to my way. And when I cut up any kind of raw meat on my cutting board I always poor bleach over it after washing it and let it air dry. I have worked in a lot of delis that do this too.

 

[Georgia]

I'm sure most of use were taught to cook by family members. My Grandmother was a chef at at big restaurant back in the 50s and she told me always to wash all raw meat. And all this time Grandma was wrong. I'll try to stop, but it is rather automatic for me to wash it.

 

[Bob67]

I agree with natural. My mother always rinsed raw chicken and now I always rinse raw chicken (along with all other raw meats). I've never gotten sick from it and I don't think it's a habit I'm willing to break.

 

[wanderingherb]

Wash raw meat. Proper precautions stop cross-contamination. If folks are being contaminated washing raw meat, then they need to take food handling courses. Its very easy to keep cross-contamination down.
Wiping it spreading it all over is a sign they don't know what they are doing.
IMHO

Wanderingherb

 

[SuzyQ]

Now that the festive season is here and we in the UK have turkey for Christmas dinner, this advice is all over the TV news as it also applies to turkey. (Luckily I'm not a huge fan of turkey!)

 

[wanderingherb]

I have been putting a lot of thought into this since its been posted. With all the training I had to go through at the center, this just does not jive with their research. I've been really mulling it over in my head. This doesn't seems right somewhere and I just can't put my finger on it.

Nice post by the way. I am always concerned about cross contamination.

It all depends on how and what you do. Cross contamination can happen and certain precautions must be taken. You put the chicken in the sink to rinse, and then in a clean dish and set aside. So you are not spreading germs all over. The dilution of a bleach spray after each item is processed and being wiped off with paper towels you throw away. I know this seems like a waste, but their studies found the result of this were far more sanitized than using a sponge or towel that contains germs from the entire days work. I read the studies. They were spot on. Very good studies.

I have decided to continue with how I was trained in cross contamination class. Until I can be convinced otherwise.

Wanderingherb