The temptation, before cooking the chicken, is always to wash its raw meat, to clean it better. But don't do it: the experts agree that rinsing the chicken is really dangerous. The last of a long series of warnings comes from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) who published a report with the results of the most recent scientific research.
Raw chicken is thick contaminated by bacteria Campylobacter, Salmonella is Clostridium perfringens, which can cause serious food poisoning. Cook the meat at 85 ° C it is the best solution to destroy these bacteria and make the chicken safe. Washing it, on the contrary, does nothing but spread the bacteria on other surfaces and other foods, increasing the likelihood of contamination.
I study
For a research carried out in partnership by United States Department of Agriculture and from North Carolina State University, to 300 people was asked to prepare chicken and a salad in a test kitchen. All participants reported having previously washed or rinsed raw chicken. They did it to "remove blood or dirt" or "because that's how someone in the family usually does."
The participants were divided into two groups: the first was told, before starting to cook, that poultry washing was dangerous, while at the second, no. When he started preparing the meal, 93% of the people in the first group did not wash the chicken, while 61% of the second did.
Cross-contamination
Preparing raw chicken next to a salad creates a potentially dangerous scenario: 26 participants who have washed the chicken accidentally have it transferred the meat bacteria into the salad. But even in the group of those who had not washed it, in 31% of the cases the salad was contaminated: it is the result of lack of effective hand washing and contamination of sink utensils.
«We must keep in mind that children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are particularly at risk ", explained Carmen Rottenberg of the Food Safety Service of theUSDA. «Washing or rinsing raw meat and poultry can increase the risk because bacteria spread in the kitchen, but not wash your hands for 20 seconds, immediately after handling those raw foods, it is just as dangerous ".
The researchers also found that too 60% of sinks and worktops in the kitchens used for the test they were contaminated by bacteria. Furthermore, 14% of these surfaces remained contaminated even after being cleaned.
If you really want to remove the dirt and blood from the chicken before cooking it, then the best solution is to dab the meat with a paper towel. And to wash your hands as soon as possible.
