Washing raw chicken could be recipe for stomach bugs

Public Health England

Public Health England is supporting the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) Food Safety Week that runs from 16 to 22 June. This year’s theme is – “Don’t wash raw chicken”.

This is because of a food bug called campylobacter, the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK. Campylobacter poisoning usually develops a few days after consuming contaminated food and leads to symptoms that include abdominal pain, severe diarrhoea and, sometimes, vomiting.

It can last for between 2 and 10 days and can be particularly severe in small children and the elderly. In some cases, it can affect you forever - sparking off irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), reactive arthritis and in rare cases, Guillain-Barré syndrome – a serious and sometimes permanent condition of the nervous system.

About four in five cases of campylobacter poisoning in the UK come from contaminated poultry. One of the main ways to get and spread campylobacter poisoning is through touching raw chicken. If you wash raw chicken, campylobacter can spread onto the sink, work surfaces, clothing and hands - so raw chicken should not be washed before cooking.

In Greater Manchester there are on average 2,300 cases of campylobacter poisoning per year.

Dr Lorraine Lighton of PHE’s Greater Manchester Centre’s said: “Food poisoning is a miserable experience so it’s best to try to avoid it by taking care with food. Avoid cross-contamination by not washing poultry before cooking, by storing raw meat or chicken covered and at the bottom of the fridge away from other foods, by washing chopping boards and utensils thoroughly after preparing raw meat or chicken and always wash your hands after handling raw meat or chicken and after going to the toilet.

“Make sure chicken is thoroughly cooked before you eat it to kill any food poisoning germs. Keep cooked meats cool in the fridge to stop germs from growing; if you are taking food to a picnic, use a cool bag to keep it chilled.”