THIS Why You Should Never Wash Raw Chicken Before Cooking It!

You are probably familiar with the fact that raw chicken is high in harmful bacteria such as listeria or salmonella. For that reason, most of the people wash the chicken before cooking. But, do the health experts advise us to this before cooking? Surprisingly enough, the answer is NO!

How This Habit of Washing Raw Chicken Can Kill You?

A study conducted at the Drexel University points out that when washing your raw chicken, you actually spread the bacteria on the surface and on the meat. According to Jennifer Quinlan, the leading researcher of the Drexel study, you do not remove the bacteria nor kill them but only spread them. This process is called aerosolization, the conversion of bacteria into smaller particles that can be carried onto the air. So when you wash your chicken, you make all those bacteria fly into the air around you. For instance, listeria is a very serious bacterium that lives in great numbers on chicken and can kill you. Serious enough, if it enters your bloodstream you have 1 in 5 chance of dying. Children due to their weak immune system are exposed to greater risk. We mentioned one of dozens of bacterial types that are present on chicken and we already mentioned the risk of death. If you catch campylobacter, another bacterium that lives on raw chicken, you can get food poisoning with some of these symptoms:

• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Dehydration

Salmonella can cause the following symptoms:

• Abdominal cramps
• Diarrhea
• Reactive arthritis
• Severe dehydration

How to Handle Bacteria on Raw Chicken

Dr. Quinlan claims in this study, funded by the USDA that you should not wash your chicken at all but just cook it to minimum temperature of 165̊ F. This temperature will kill any bacteria. Be careful of the surface that the raw chicken comes into contact with and clean them regularly. A study from the Drexel University points out that almost 90% of the people wash the raw chicken before cooking it. That’s the reason why Dr. Quinlan and co. have put the campaign “Don’t Wash Your Chicken”. Look at this video to gain more information about this campaign and share this truth with as many people as possible. Via David Wolfe | You Tube | Drexel |Culinary Arts