Federal health officials: Don't wash your raw chicken

If you were thinking of having chicken sometime soon, Federal health officials are warning people about how to prepare the meal.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said a new study shows that those who wash or rinse raw poultry are putting themselves at risk of illness.

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"Even when consumers think they are effectively cleaning after washing poultry, this study shows that bacteria can easily spread to other surfaces and foods. The best practice is not to wash poultry," USDA's Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Mindy Brashears said in a news release.

In the study, health officials said that 60 percent of participants who washed their raw chicken had bacteria in their sink after washing or rinsing the poultry.

"Even more concerning is that 14 percent still had bacteria in their sinks after they attempted to clean the sink," officials said.

In addition, health officials said 26 percent of participants transferred bacteria from the raw chicken to their ready-to-eat salad lettuce.

Health officials gave the following tips to help decrease the risk of illness:

- Significantly decrease your risk by preparing foods that will not be cooked, such as vegetables and salads, before handling and preparing raw meat and poultry.
- Thoroughly clean and sanitize ANY surface that has potentially touched or been contaminated from raw meat and poultry, or their juices.
- Destroy any illness-causing bacteria by cooking meat and poultry to a safe internal temperature as measured by a food thermometer.

"Washing or rinsing raw meat and poultry can increase your risk as bacteria spreads around your kitchen, but not washing your hands for 20 seconds immediately after handling those raw foods is just as dangerous," Administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service Carmen Rottenberg added.

Click here for more specifics on the study.

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