Washing raw chicken may seem like a hygienic measure, but in reality, it is unnecessary and can even be dangerous.
Let’s start here: the chicken bought in the supermarket has already been washed. There is no need to wash it again.
Furthermore, this practice has little effect in the elimination of pathogens — and can, on the contrary, spread microorganismsas concluded by one published in September in Journal of Food Protection.
“Despite what they may have told us, or what we may find posted on social media, we should never wash raw chicken before cooking”, the microbiology professor Julian Cox, vice-president of the Food Safety Information Council of Australia, on the occasion of Food Safety Week, which takes place this month.
“Isto increases to likely to spread bacteria around the kitchenincreasing the risk of foodborne illnesses”, highlights the professor from UNSW Sydney, Australia.
In 2022, a survey carried out in the United States with 1,822 consumers revealed that around 73% of participants wash raw poultry meat. Only 30% of this group were aware that This practice is inadvisable.
Every year, they are estimated to occur in the U.S. 47.8 million casess of foodborne illnesses, with the individual food most often responsible for raw poultry meat.
Although washing chicken is not necessarily the direct cause, increases the riskhighlights the .
In 2019, a report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that 26% of participants who washed cracked chicken meat transferred bacteria to your salad when they started using the sink again to wash vegetables.
Carefully sanitize the sink with hot water and soap is, of course, an option, but it is a unnecessary task.
According to a 2018 report released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately one in every 25 packages of chicken purchased at the supermarket contaminated with Salmonella.
More recently, last October, a worrying person concluded that one in five urinary infections may be linked to poor handling of raw meat in the kitchen.
What should we do? To effectively protect ourselves from Salmonella and E. coli in the kitchen, the USDA recommends:
- Do not wash raw meat;
- Use a cutting board dedicated exclusively to raw meat;
- Wash your hands well with soap for at least 20 seconds after touching raw meat;
- Use a food thermometer to ensure the chicken reaches at least 74°C.
It is important to emphasize that these recommendations apply to any type of meat raw purchased from the supermarket.
