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[honeybun]

Anyone seen the news today about the really high levels of campylobacter in supermarket chickens.
The advice seems to suggest not to wash them before you cook but that is just to stop contact infection.
That goes against the grain for me, I have always washed a chicken.

I get myself set up, everything ready, tin to cook it in, butter ready and everything else I need. Scrub hands and then use neat bleach to disinfect everything I have touched. I won't even use a washing up cloth...just kitchen paper.

How does everyone else go about preparing a chicken or have you excluded it from the menu.

Honeybun
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[kerrieann]

i always used to wash chicken, then stopped when it was in the news now i dont know what to think  my anxiety kicks in over food and like you i scrub everything in the area with kitchen roll and dettol spray, was this bug around 15 years ago ? or did i not used to worry 

[honeybun]

It was salmonella years ago.

I'm really careful, always have been. In another life I was a chef so I knew the risks....but it still worries me to the extent of using neat bleach and boiling water now.


I remember my mother just cooking  .....we all survived.


Honeybun
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[Limpy]

Don't wash chicken BUT all prep surfaces are sprayed with Dettol spray.
Wiping down done with kitchen roll......

[kerrieann]

things were so different then, maybe there was not so many bugs etc around 

[Joyce]

My mum told me to wash chickens years ago, but I stopped a while back. I have everything at the ready when cooking. Pan/casserole, tap running to wash hands so I don't have to turn on tap after prepping with  contaminated hands. Dishwasher door open to put any utensils in. Then I clean everything afterwards with dettol. Did my mum do any of this, nope. Washed it, wrapped in foil, in oven & washed hands. I'm still here to tell the tale. 

[CLKD]

We always run very cold water through the cavities of poultry, pheasants, quail etc. as we dispatch our own.  If we buy from the supermarket we run very cold water etc..  If work surfaces are wiped down after there shouldn't be a problem  .  All poultry carries the risk of salmonella.  As do other things  particularly turtles and terrapins 

I have phobia around food.  I always use separate preparation boards and utensils when cooking chicken hark at me  - I have trained Himself to use separate etc. etc. etc.; and those items which have touched raw meats/poultry are washed last.

I remember when his sainted mother stayed for a few days and tried to help - I had gone for my 9.00 p.m. bath and straight to bed; when I came down the next morning she had been at the sink  - so I had to wash the whole lot again as I didn't know which towels etc. she had used and I knew that she didn't have a system of glassware first, followed by ……. and raw utensils last.  It was a Good Job that she didn't tell me at breakfast "I helped last night by washing up for you" 

Don't waste water Girls: there really is no need.  Keep raw preparation stuff separate from the rest, wipe down surfaces with boiled water and Cif/bleach …….. I put our t-towels, cloths and hand towels into be washed twice a day, once they begin to feel damp into the machine ready for the next boil wash!

[oldsheep]

I've had food poisoning from an instant chicken meal once despite thorough heating - thought I was going to die I felt so ill for about 4 days.
Still eat home cooked chicken. If you cook it well enough, you nuke the bugs I think.  I used to wash it but now don't (as per the labelling). I also now season it in the tray it comes in before decanting, then wash my hands very thoroughly. I don't suppose there's any difference in the bugs in free range and battery chicken? I only buy free range if I'm going to eat chicken.

Wish they'd sort it out at the farms and suppliers. Apparently the expensive versions at M&S and Waitrose have improved a lot since the story broke.

[honeybun]

I have never had food poisoning from chicken....well up till now 

What I did get was salmonella from ice cream.
I was 18 and it took me weeks to get over. I have never been as ill in my life. The people who gave me it lost their license. It was the most horrible time.
I am very obsessive about kitchen hygiene but I don't like to use too many sprays. So it's dilute bleach and boiling water from me.


Honeybun
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[Limpy]

Hate to say this but I've had food poisoning from chicken more than once. In my defence I wasn't the one cooking it.

1st time - About 1978 - Absolutely wonderful chicken fried rice from a chinese takeaway, tasted good at the tiime. Found grated apple a good way to hold things together

2nd time - 1979 - Had chicken & rice meal at philharmonic hall in Liverpool. Luckily didn't start throwing up till after the concert!

3rd time - around 1981 in Turkey, barbeued chicken. Not good as I was staying on a yacht at the time - several people on board, no privacy, minimal hand washing facilities. The best thing that could be said is that it didn't involve throwing up.

However, I've not had chicken related food poisoning since, phew.
Or should I say, again......

[honeybun]

I got it once from haggis......and I'm Scottish......what the heck 
Unfortunately hubby got it as well and my son was a baby who needed all the things that babies needed. We chose who felt as if they could change a nappy without actually throwing up at the time. 
Heck that was fun.


Honeybun
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[Joyce]

I've had food poisoning from eateries. But not full blown. Son & I got food poisoning on holiday one year. We were holidaying on Loch Ness. We went to Fort William for lunch. Outside temp was 29° C.  We both had salad. I got over it quickly, though felt rubbish for couple of days. Son got full blown salmonella! He tested positive, rest of us were negative. Poor soul, didn't know what to do with himself, he was spewing so much. Called in doctor who told him to try sips of water or else he'd end up in hospital. He was off school for a week!

[CLKD]

It is more likely to have been the rice Limpy 
I was listening to Vanessa at lunch time  and she was discussing the whys and wherefores - a woman rang in; the whole family had been ill over-night, hubby fried slices of chicken breast for 10 mins. then covered it in a canned sauce and cooked for 20 - probably the sauce, if it hasn't been heated first 

I won't eat chicken unless DH has cooked it.  He made a chicken thigh curry yesterday and I ate some at lunch time whilst listening to Vanessa: have had indigestion ALL afternoon  …….. I think I ate it too quickly …….. will report back in the morning; or not 

Ice-cream abroad was a no-no as it uses products the British gut simply isn't used to! also local water …….

Campylobacter and salmonella are all around us   

[Joyce]

Was always told not to eat fresh ice cream abroad, only prepackaged cones etc.

[CLKD]

Yep.  Also make sure that any bottled water is sealed as it might have been drawn from local taps else  or drink Coke!