UK : Deadly chicken cover-up

[arista]

http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/5/327615/default/v1/buteltciaaa-beo-1-329x437.jpg

[Food watchdogs have been accused
of a cover-up after it emerged
six in ten supermarket
chickens carry a dangerous bug.
The contamination is driving a
food poisoning epidemic that hits
at least 280,000 people a year.
Official estimates suggest the bug,
campylobacter – which causes stomach
upsets, vomiting and diarrhoea – is responsible
for more than 100 deaths each year. It costs the economy about £900million in treating the sick and lost days at work.]

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2717251/Deadly-chicken-cover-Six-ten-supermarket-birds-lethal-bug-watchdog-wont-say-stores.html#ixzz39YqhbJdX



feck me

[Livia]

Surely, if your food is properly cooked the chances of any kind of bacteria surviving are minimal. I think most people know that chicken is really dangerous if it's undercooked. On the other hand, this gives the Daily Mail something to get all bent out of shape over.

[joeysteele]

Surely, if your food is properly cooked the chances of any kind of bacteria surviving are minimal. I think most people know that chicken is really dangerous if it's undercooked. On the other hand, this gives the Daily Mail something to get all bent out of shape over.

:joker:It does indeed.
As you say, we all know Chicken can be a suspect product,you rightly point out cooking it properly makes it far safer.
You said it all really Livia.

[arista]

Yes Proper Cooking
the only way

[Headie]

There's only one solution - Ease Up On The Chicken Man!

[armand.kay]

There's only one solution - Ease Up On The Chicken Man!

Mutha p predicted this and was only trying to save jalen? :shocked:

[Kizzy]

The message if read properly is nothing to do with cooking and everything to do with preparation.
Washing chicken is what has been highlighted as the potential danger to health.
Yes the chicken is cooked but the sink and surrounding area it left contaminated.
The advice is to never wash it prior to cooking.

[Livia]

Wasn't there a massive campaign against washing chicken? I can't imagine there are too many people who still do that. Daily Mail readers, maybe.

[Kizzy]

I don't remember much prior to the last couple of months, who knows how long this campylobacter has been hospitalising people.

'The survey commissioned by the FSA found that levels of awareness of campylobacter are well below that of other forms of food poisoning. More than 90% of the public have heard of salmonella and E.coli, whereas only 28% of people know about campylobacter. Furthermore, of the people who have heard of campylobacter, only 31% of them know that poultry is the main source of the bacteria.

The most cited reasons people gave for washing chicken were the removal of dirt (36%), getting rid of germs (36%) and that that they had always done it (33%).'

http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2014/jun/fsw#.U-IX5vldUjx

[Livia]

While the name of a particular bacteria might not be common knowledge for most people, I don't think I've encountered someone who would ever wash chicken, or any other meat, before they cooked it. I remember someone on Big Brother a few years ago who insisted on washing chicken - it might have been Science - and people commented at the time that they thought it was the wrong thing to do. There was a whole discussion on it on the forum I belonged to then. Most people aren't daft and understand that the best way to kill germs it to cook something thoroughly, not run it under the tap.

[Kizzy]

Well if you see the study the food standard agency ran you'll notice that their findings were different. It may be a cultural thing...
Would there even be a campaign if not many did this?

[arista]

a FSA bloke on Ch4HD news

said when you Touch the Chicken - wash your hands
and keep it at the bottom of the fridge
avoid any juices getting into other foods

[Vicky.]

I honestly thought all chickens carried this and thats why its so important to cook it properly :S

[T*]

guess what I had for tea tonight :amazed: D:

[Livia]

guess what I had for tea tonight :amazed: D:

Sausages?

[Alf]

guess what I had for tea tonight :amazed: D:
Windmill Pie?

[Toy Soldier]

The problem is proper food handling rather than cooking, it's quite difficult to undercook chicken (really obvious when it's undercooked, both pieces and a full roast).

Washing / splashing is one problem, but also cross-contamination from things like not washing hands in HOT water after handling it, letting the chicken juices get onto the worksurface and not wiping it down properly, or using the same chopping board to prepare other food without cleaning it properly.

Also two things you should never do that most people don't know:

1) Don't fry chicken using a wooden spoon! Raw chicken juice can soak into it at the start of cooking and still be present at the end when you scoop it out of the pan, transferring onto the cooked food.

2) Don't use wooden OR plastic chopping boards to cut chicken. A sharp knife cuts slightly into the wood / plastic and the bacteria gets into those tiny grooves, and then doesn't wash out properly when you clean the board... so is still lurking there when you prepare something else on that board. Always use a GLASS chopping board, for any raw meat.


I worked as a (pub) chef for a couple of years when I was at Uni... chicken skillz are really hammered home. On the first say it's like "there are like 7 colour coded chopping boards... but you can use the white one for basically everything. EXCEPT CHICKEN!! That board over in the corner, far away from everything else, is the chicken board... and only chicken shall it ever see."

[Kizzy]

I only have glass boards, I'm a bit paranoid about meat and tend to overcook everything.

[billy123]

I still havent figured out which bit is a cover up.