Stop washing your poultry, warns the USDA in a new study



[ad_1]

Regarding the cleanliness of the chicken, the US Department of Agriculture recommends to stop washing the poultry.

A

USDA study

shows that people are at risk of illness when they rinse or wash raw poultry, the agency said in a press release issued on Monday.

The study conducted by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service was conducted in partnership with North Carolina State University and examined how home cooks deal with raw meat. He also examined the impact of handling raw meat on the cleanliness of other foods nearby.

Here's how it worked: 300 participants prepared chicken and salad in test kitchens. Social media messages were broadcast to some of the participants, warning them not to wash the poultry before preparing their food, while the messages were not shown to another group.

"Food safety messages in e-mails actually encouraged participants not to wash raw chicken thighs before cooking," the study said, with 93 percent of participants considering the warning that has been given.

Among the participants in the control group – who were not shown social media warnings about poultry washing – 61% washed their poultry before cooking it.

Of the people who reported washing their poultry when cooking at home, 30% said they did so to eliminate blood and sludge, while 19% said they did so because that's what a family member does.

Rinse the chicken does not seem very serious, but it affects the cleanliness of the food nearby, showed the study. Among the group of people who washed their poultry, nearly 30% of their lettuce used for salads was contaminated with chicken bacteria. This figure was only 20% among people who had not washed their chicken.

Guilty party? Cross contamination by washing poultry.

"Even when consumers think that they clean effectively after washing poultry, this study shows that bacteria can easily spread to other surfaces and foods,"

says Mindy Brashears,

Assistant Secretary of the USDA for Food Security. "The best practice is not to wash the poultry."

The USDA recommends the following measures to help prevent diseases when preparing poultry or meat at home:

[ad_2]

Source link