Never Again Wash Raw Chicken Meat! Do This Instead!

Posted by Joseph Browne on May 10th, 2018

About 90 percent of the people wash the raw chicken meat before cooking. Here is the reason why you should not do that.

The raw chicken meat contains some harmful bacteria, especially salmonella and Campylobacter, which are two of the biggest culprits behind the food poisoning. So it just makes sense to wash the chicken meat before the preparation, right? It is wrong.

Washing the raw meat before cooking it absolutely contributes to spreading of some harmful bacteria around the surface of the meat and everywhere, like your countertop or sink. Jennifer Quinlan, who is a researcher at the Drexel University, was part of one research project, which is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture on this particular subject. Jennifer said that the research shows that 90 percent of the people in their research said that they rinse the raw chicken, particularly since most of the recipes call for people to rinse the meat first, then pat dry.

She said that the rinsing doesn’t kill the bacteria or doesn’t get rid of the bacteria. But, there is a possibility that it will spray the bacteria named aerosolization.

The United States Department of Agriculture started the Food Safe Families campaign, which emphasizes the people to take these steps:

Clean – wash the surfaces and your hands often.

Separate – don’t let the raw meat or the juices to touch the other food.

Cook – cook the meat to the safe minimum temperature of 165° Fahrenheit, measured using a food thermometer.

Chill – refrigerate your meat promptly.

The Drexel University started a similar campaign named Don’t Wash Your Chicken. It is an attempt to remove this bad habit while cooking, and that is for a great reason. Consuming food which is contaminated with these two bacteria strains is able to sicken a person.

Those people that consume food contaminated with the <a href="https://vimore.org/">bacteria salmonella</a> can have symptoms like fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. Most of the people who get ill from the salmonella recover completely after a couple of days, but some people can develop more serious diseases and even die.

The Campylobacter can cause diarrhea in those people that consume food contaminated with this type of bacteria. It is able to sicken people up to ten days and can cause abdominal pain. Some people have reported some long term effects from the bacteria, including Guillan-Barre syndrome and arthritis, which affects the nervous system and causes muscle weakness.

Quinlan said that the side effects of washing the meat are just not worth it.

Some people think that they are actually cleaning off germs, some want to remove the slime or feel the meat like it is dirty. There are various reasons including the feeling that they have to do that – it is raw, so I have to clean it.

Watch the following interview with Quinlan about the right care of the raw chicken.

You have to remember another food safety tip: be careful to store the cooked chicken in a container in your refrigerator because the meat can become contaminated if sits out for a long time.