Washing chicken increases risk of food poisoning, says Which?

26th July 2010, 8:48am

Three quarters of people who buy a whole chicken will wash it before cooking it, but this actually increases the risk of food poisoning, found Which? research.

Washing the chicken can spread the bacteria on to work surfaces for up to a one-metre radius.

Further figures found that when consumers were asked what they thought the largest cause of food poisoning was, 56% said salmonella.  Only 2% identified campylobacter which the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently discovered in 65% of raw shop-bought chicken. 

Which? believes that more can be done across the whole production chain to reduce the level of infection - including improved hygiene in slaughterhouses and the houses where birds are raised, such as fitting fly screens to the houses and workers changing their clothes and shoes.  

The FSA and other government research funders have recently published a new strategy to gather evidence to help tackle campylobacter.

Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive of Which?, said: "It shouldn't be up to consumers to clean up problems made earlier in the food chain, but if you're planning on cooking a whole chicken be aware that if it's infected washing it actually increases the risk of food poisoning.  Stay safe by cutting out the cleaning and cooking it through thoroughly."

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