Washing food before cooking is a habit that we all have, but perhaps you don’t know that it doesn’t suit every type of ingredient. This is the case with raw chicken: the temptation, before cooking it, is to wash it to clean it. However, experts warn us: it is not a good practice. There are several studies in this regard – the latest of which was carried out by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – which demonstrate that washing raw chicken is harmful, because instead of eliminating the bacteria, it increases the risk of contamination.
Why You Should Not Wash Raw Chicken
Many do not know that raw chicken is often contaminated with a series of bacteria that can cause some serious food poisoning. As reported by the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) in one of it investigations, the bacteria Campylobacter, salmonella and Clostridium are found on raw chicken meat. The only way to defeat them and make them harmless is to cook the meat at a temperature higher than 85°C.
On the contrary, however, if the meat is washed, the possibility of the bacteria spreading, contaminating other surfaces and other foods, increases. In fact, splashes of water, droplets and water that comes into contact with your hands while they’re dirty with raw meat could reach other foods in the kitchen where you are washing the chicken. The water, in this case, would be a medium for bacteria, and could also contaminate kitchen surfaces and utensils.
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