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Your Chicken Dinner Could Be Killing You RIGHT NOW
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 21, 2013
Modified Dec 21, 2013
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 21, 2013
Modified Dec 21, 2013
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Next time you bite into a nice, juicy drumstick or tasty, tender chicken breast, think hard about the fact that it COULD be covered in antibiotic-resistant bacteria just itching to wreak havoc on your immune system. Or so says a new study, which found that most supermarket chicken boasts a lots of antibiotic-resistant germs and the odd superbug that are bound to make you sick if you aren't careful. DUN DUN DUN.
Though it's usually not a good idea to consume raw meat, Consumer Reports found antibiotic-resistant strands of bacteria like salmonella, enterococcus and E. Coli in a staggeringly high number of the supermarket-sourced raw chicken breasts they tested—out of 300 chicken breasts, 97 percent harbored harmful bacteria, and over half had "superbug" bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
Over 1.3 million Americans get sick from salmonella each year, and though cooking chicken to an internal temperature of 165° Fahrenheit will kill bacteria, Consumer Reports warns that it's easy to pick up diseases from cross-contamination in the kitchen. If you take raw chicken out of the package and then touch a faucet handle or trash lid, for instance, you could be transferring bacteria onto those surfaces that'll stay active for at least a few days.
The report urges the FDA to limit the use of antibiotics in food animals and chicken eggs, preventing bacteria from becoming resistant to the antibiotics. It also asks the FDA to set limits on how tainted with salmonella raw chicken can be before being sold, and requests that Congress give the USDA the authority to recall meat and poultry products that are tied to disease outbreaks. For now, though, cook and feast at your own risk—or go old-school organic start raising some chickens of your own.
Tagged
chicken
consumer reports
raw chicken
salmonella
Rebecca Fishbein
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