Like most good daughters, I try to follow my mother’s advice, at
least in the kitchen. She taught me to wash my hands, keep my hair
pulled back, and keep my cooking surfaces clean. Oh, and she taught me
to wash raw chicken really well, which meant lots of water splashing
hither and yon. The purpose was to get rid of bacteria that might make
the entire family sick. Shockingly, she and her mother before her were
wrong about the chicken. Unwashed raw chicken is actually safer than its
seemingly cleaner counterpart, which, despite common household
practice, is something the health industry has known for decades.
As Maria Godoy on NPR.org
pointed out, washing raw chicken raises the risk of spreading bacteria
throughout your kitchen, meaning you are more likely to poison your
family by cooking a clean bird. Just picture how much water ends up
splashing off your chicken and where that water goes. It’s on the
counter, the stove, your hands, and maybe even dishes that are nearby.
If you were trying to spread around bacteria, you couldn’t do a better
job.
Dr. Jennifer Quinlan, PhD, started a mini cluck fest when she posted a
video called, appropriately enough,”Don’t Wash Your Chicken,” which
spelled out the dangers of bathing your bird. As she explained, your
chicken is likely to have either Salmonella or Campylobacter on it and
washing just spreads these nasty bacteria around. Since these two
villains are responsible for most of the food carried illnesses we get,
washing your chicken sets up your family for some serious sickness.
The way to stay safe, according to foodsafety.gov,
is to cook your poultry to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. That
is all it takes. Remember that using a food thermometer is your best
bet when you want to be certain your meat has been properly cooked. Once
your chicken has reached this internal temperature, Salmonella and
Campylobacter are dead and cannot hurt you anymore. Your meat is then
actually clean.
Stopping the practice of bathing your chicken may be a bit of a
struggle, but fight the urge and keep your family healthy. My mother
thought she was keeping me safe by having me lustily bathe our dinner,
but she was mistaken. Remember, cook it: don’t clean it. You’ll keep the
nasty bacteria off of your kitchen surfaces and out of your family’s
intestinal system, which is what any good cook wants.
Source:positivemed