Washing Raw Chicken 'Ups Food Poisoning Risk'

[sunshine]

Washing whole chicken before cooking it increases
the risk of food poisoning, a new research has warned..

Quote:The research has revealed that an estimated three-
quarters of consumers who buy whole chickens wash them,
potentially spreading bacteria on to work surfaces for up to
a 3ft radius.

According to figures from the Food Standards Agency (FSA),
65 percent of raw shop-bought chicken is contaminated with campylobacter,
the most common identified cause of food
poisoning in the UK, with symptoms including diarrhoea and
stomach cramps.

Although cooking chicken properly will kill the bug, it is
responsible for more than 300,000 cases of food poisoning and
15,000 hospitalisations a year in England and Wales alone.

However, the study found that 56 percent of people thought
salmonella was the biggest cause of food poisoning, with just 2
percent naming campylobacter.

"Tap water won't get rid of the germs that cause food poisoning.
By washing your raw bird, you're actually more likely to spread the
germs around the kitchen," the Scotsman quoted an FSA
spokeswoman as saying.

I've always washed chicken before cooking, but what I do is,
I add a little bit of salt while washing the chicken in cold
water, I don't know if the salt makes a difference, but
I have always figured it helps clean, learned it from my
mom.
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