Because you NEVER have to wash chicken before cooking, the studio that will make you stop making these mistakes

Many still make the mistake of washing chicken before cooking, a study now confirms the increased dangers of contamination from e.coli and other bacteria

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

Those who eat chicken too often make the mistake of washing it before cooking it without thinking about the risks of contamination that this apparently healthier practice would increase. In recent years, many have warned against this habit, which could be very dangerous, starting with the Food Standards Agency, the British agency that deals with food safety, which had also launched a communication campaign. (Read also: Do you eat chicken? Do not wash it but cook it well.

To confirm the risks of cross-contamination associated with the preventive washing or handling of chicken meat in the sink, now comes a US research conducted by the University of North Carolina which wanted to test the effectiveness of the recommendations provided to consumers by the Department of Agriculture related to the preparation of poultry, starting from not washing it, demonstrating how this practice is more dangerous than previously thought, but also how messages should be modified to make people better understand the message.

We wanted to know what effect an educational intervention would have on getting people to stop washing poultry before cooking it and what effect any resulting behavioral changes might have on reducing contamination in the kitchen, ”said Ellen Shumaker, corresponding author of the study -" We also wanted to get a better idea of how, if at all, washing poultry actually led to more contamination in the kitchen.

Index

The Firm

For the study, the researchers recruited 300 home cooks who said they washed poultry before cooking and then emailed food safety information, including not handling chicken, to just 142 participants: the remaining 158 received no educational intervention.

All 300 home cooks were asked to cook chicken legs and make a salad on camera and unaware that a non-pathogenic strain of Escherichia coli was inoculated into the meat, but easily detectable by researchers to see if any cross contamination.

When the study participants left the kitchen to conduct the interview, the researchers swabbed each participant's sinks and countertops after they had completed cooking the meal and cleaned the kitchen. The prepared salad was also tested for possible contamination.

The results

Because you NEVER have to wash chicken before cooking, the studio that will make you stop making these mistakes

93% of the participants who received the email with the recommendations did NOT wash the chicken, compared with 39% of the participants who did not receive the intervention. In the control group, therefore, 60% had washed the chicken.

The researchers found that the countertops of the people who had washed the chicken were more contaminated, but were surprised to see that the salads of both the people who had washed the chicken and those who had not had similar levels of contamination. from raw chicken.

Regardless of whether people washed the chicken, kitchen sinks were contaminated with raw chicken, while there was relatively little contamination of neighboring counters, ”Shumaker said. “This was a bit surprising, since conventional wisdom was that the risk associated with washing the chicken was due to the water splashing off the chicken and contaminating the surrounding surfaces. Instead, the sink itself was becoming contaminated, even when the chicken wasn't being washed

Mistakes NOT to make

So what? The researchers conclude, therefore, that washing the chicken is absolutely not advisable, but that we should also focus on other mistakes that are made and on the prevention of contamination, emphasizing above all the importance of hand washing, cleaning and sanitizing the surfaces afterwards. having handled poultry.

Washing chicken and other (scientifically proven) mistakes you are probably making when cooking

Therefore, if you eat chicken, also in light of the latest tests of Il Lifeguard which showed that at least one third of the meat in the supermarket was contaminated when you cook it, avoid: