I apologize for posting a flurry of rather unsavory food stories around the Thanksgiving holidays, but, hey, what better time to pay attention to the issues that cling to what we eat.
A truly free-range chicken Photo by Guy Hand
Consumer Reports recently released a study they conducted on the safety of store-bought chicken. Here’s how they begin the report:
“You would think that after years of alarms about food safety—outbreaks of illness followed by renewed efforts at cleanup—a staple like chicken would be a lot safer to eat. But in our latest analysis of fresh, whole broilers bought at stores nationwide, two-thirds harbored salmonella and/or campylobacter, the leading bacterial causes of foodborne disease.”
Chickens become infected with salmonella and campylobacter (which can lead to meningitis, arthritis and other neurological conditions) by pecking at droppings and insects that carry those contaminants. Although the bacteria can settle in a bird’s intestines without harm, according to Consumer Reports, if the birds aren’t slaughtered with care, intestinal bacteria can wind up on the meat we eat.
Critics of factory farming say that confined, crowded conditions and the high speed with which poultry is processed increases the likelihood that contamination will occur. (Edible Idaho reported on a small-scale alternative to factory poultry production returning to Idaho here.)
Consumer Reports says “Each year, salmonella and campylobacter from chicken and other food sources infect 3.4 million Americans, send 25,500 to hospitals, and kill about 500, according to estimates by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the problem might be even more widespread: Many people who get sick don’t seek medical care, and many of those who do aren’t screened for foodborne infections . . .”
The study suggests cooking chicken to at least 165° F and preventing raw chicken and its juices from touching any other food or surfaces where those foods may be prepared. Buying organic chicken, the Consumer Reports study says, helps too: the store-brand organic chickens tested had no salmonella at all, “showing that it’s possible for chicken to arrive in stores without that bacterium riding along.” Still, 57 percent of those organic birds harbored campylobacter.
The Consumer Reports Study “How safe is that chicken?”
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Guy Hand is a writer, public radio producer and photographer specializing in food and agriculture. |
