The Australian Food Safety News is this year focusing on cross contamination and in particular chicken safety. Although chicken is Australia’s most popular meat it can also be the most dangerous if not cooked properly and handled safely.
According to statistics chicken related food safety incidents have doubled over the past 20 years due to home chefs who are not preparing chicken in the right way.
According to a recent poll, most people wash chicken before cooking it which actually increases the risk of the bacteria spreading and cross contamination occurring because the water can spread to other foods and utensils.
In Australia alone around 220,000 cases of food poisoning bacteria Campylobacter infections occur each year and a majority of these cases have been linked to chicken and cross contamination caused by infectious bacteria. Raw chicken is also contaminated with Salmonella bacteria and can be a source of cross contamination, which can result in food poisoning.
By ensuring chicken is properly cooked is all that is needed to kill the bacteria present in poultry which can otherwise make a person seriously ill. Also when preparing chicken, wash utensils and cooking equipment properly before using them on other foods to prevent cross contamination. Also store chicken at the bottom of the fridge where the juices will not drip onto other foods causing them to become contaminated. Properly cooking, storing and handling chicken will ensure it is safely consumed.
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