In the news this week, you may have noticed headlines stating that eating chicken is dangerous. Hopefully before taking chicken off of your menu, you decided to do a little research on this topic. As usual, the media is trying to add a little extra sizzle to their headlines by scaring the general public with one of our most commonly eaten foods. Let’s clear this message up. Is eating chicken dangerous? NO. Can chicken be dangerous? YES.

The reason for the headlines last week was due to a salmonella outbreak that was associated with chickens from a farm in California. There were 350 reported cases of salmonella poisoning. Is salmonella poisoning an issue when it comes to chicken? YES. Are there ways to prevent this? YES.

Let’s start out by discussing what not to do when preparing chicken. The most common thing to do before cooking chicken is washing it with water in the sink. This is a major mistake because water doesn’t kill salmonella. It just spreads it. When water splashes in your sink, it splashes on the faucet, your countertops, clean dishes, the floor, your hands and arms, etc… That means a large percentage of your kitchen is now covered with salmonella just because you were trying to wash your chicken. So, how do we get around this issue?

Don’t wash your chicken before cooking it. Making sure to cook your chicken at an internal temperature of 165 degrees is a surefire way to kill the bacteria. There is no need to wash chicken when it’s being cooked at such high temperatures. Upon opening the chicken from the packaging, some of the liquid may drip on the counter or into the sink. Just take hot water and soap and clean those areas thoroughly. It’s a much easier method than cleaning your entire kitchen because you decided to rinse your chicken before cooking it. Don’t be afraid to eat chicken. It is a very lean and healthy form of protein. Just make sure you are taking proper precautions while preparing it.

-Tom