The Food Safety Information Council has released concerning national survey data this week that shows 60% of home cooks in Australia are putting themselves at additional risk of food poisoning from chicken.
The data showed that 60 per cent were at risk from washing whole poultry before it was cooked, which can spread bacteria around the kitchen. A further 16% of those surveyed incorrectly tasted chicken to see if it was cooked properly rather than using a safe meat thermometer.
The focus on cross-contamination of meats by the Food Safety Information Council (FSIC) comes as yesterday marked the start of Australian Food Safety Week. The FSIC week is specifically focusing on chicken and those most affected by food poisoning with the theme “vulnerable populations.”
Food Safety Information Council Chairman, Dr Michael Eyles said that chicken, as Australia’s most popular meat, was consumed by 8 in every ten home cooks.
”Home cooks are probably following what their parents or grandparents did in the past by washing poultry, not to mention probably patting it dry with a tea towel. Washing poultry splashes these bacteria around the kitchen cross contaminating sinks, taps, your hands, utensils, chopping boards and foods that aren’t going to be cooked like salads or desserts,” Dr Eyles said.
“Chicken is a healthy, convenient meal [but] other poultry is also becoming popular with just under half of those surveyed cooking whole turkey and 37% whole duck but these, too, are being washed before cooking, with 68% washing turkey and 74% duck,” he added.
According to a Food Standards Australia New Zealand survey referenced by the Food Safety Information Council, 84 per cent of raw chicken carcasses tested positive to the food poisoning bacteria Campylobacter and 22 per cent to Salmonella.
A scallop fishery in the White Rock area has been closed after the same paralytic shellfish toxin (PST) found in Spring Bay Seafood’s mussels was detected in samples taken on November 2.
“PST levels in tested scallops are currently either close to or slightly over the permitted level, but it’s possible the level will increase before it goes back down again,” a health department warning said.
The affected shellfish don’t look or taste different and the toxin is not destroyed by cooking or freezing, but there have been no reports of illness.
FoodWorld 
