Do you know that most of the foodborne diseases between the year 2009 and 2015 were caused by something that’s a dinner staple?
Nowadays, it seems like we can’t go more than a week without hearing about food being recalled by some company for not being good, but it’s a good thing. It means that the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) is constantly tracking outbreaks and is identifying what causes food poisoning to help keep countrymen safe.
The CDC’s Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance Systems collects all the data on foodborne illness outbreaks. Outbreaks mean when two or more people have the same illness as a result of eating common food. Between the years 2009 and 2015, there were more than 5500 outbreaks reported, which resulted in more than 100k illnesses.
Reasons for food poisoning
One food category that is most responsible for major outbreaks is chicken. Chicken? Yes, you heard that right. From 2009 to 2015, the chicken was the reason behind 3,114 outbreak-related illnesses or more than 12% of all food poisoning cases. We know chicken is a nutritious and healthy protein that’s the perfect food for dinner. It’s so easy to cook, and it is so delicious that Americans eat more chicken every year than any other meat item. Because we eat and handle so much chicken every day, there’s a chance of cross-contamination between raw and undercooked chicken and other food items.
Protecting yourself and your family
It’s very important to ensure that your chicken is handled safely and cooked thoroughly because undercooked chicken more often contains illness-causing bacteria, which includes salmonella. Here are some of the following recommendations:
- Place chicken in a plastic bag before putting it into the refrigerator. It will prevent its raw juice from contaminating with other foods.
- Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds every time before and after handling chicken. It is an expert-recommended technique.
- Never wash raw chicken.
- Always use a separate cutting board for cutting raw chicken.
- Never put cooked food or fresh produce food on a plate, cutting board or another surface that was previously held by raw chicken.
- Properly wash cutting boards, utensils, countertops, and dishes, using soapy water after cooking chicken.
- Always use a meat thermometer to ensure that the chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165° F. 165° F is considered to be a safe internal temperature.
- Put the leftover chicken in the refrigerator within 2 hours (or within 1 hour if the temperature is more than 90° F).
Final words
So, now you know that chicken is the reason behind most of the food poisoning cases in the United States. Always be precautionary whenever cooking. Always keep checking whether it’s properly cooked or not. Additionally, follow the above-given safety recommendation by the CDC for keeping raw chicken.
Bonus fact
Chicken isn’t the only culprit for food poisoning though, food like tuna, leafy green salad, sprouts, potato salad, and many more food items are also reasons behind food poisoning.