The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning consumers not to wash raw chicken.
On Friday, the agency tweeted that doing so can spread germs from the chicken to other food or utensils, but some social media users didn’t take the advice very well.
Sorry, I follow the rules of my 92-year old mother’s kitchen. They haven’t failed me yet.
— Myrna Manners (@myrnamanners) April 27, 2019
This is terrible advice 😒
— Meliann Lew 🇯🇲 (@MeliannLew) April 30, 2019
I'll keep washing mine, thank you. And washing my hands and sink.
— Jocelyn Dorsey (@Jocelyn67) April 30, 2019
The CDC responded to the backlash, defending its stance that when washing raw chicken, splattering juices often contaminated with Campylobacteria bacteria (and sometimes salmonella and Clostridium perfringens bactera) can easily spread around the kitchen and even onto your clothes.
We didn’t mean to get you all hot about not washing your chicken! But it’s true: kill germs by cooking chicken thoroughly, not washing it. You shouldn’t wash any poultry, meat, or eggs before cooking. They can all spread germs around your kitchen. Don’t wing food safety!
— CDC (@CDCgov) April 29, 2019
In fact, the CDC urged consumers not to wash any poultry, meat or eggs before cooking.
Instead, use a separate cutting board for raw chicken, never place cooked food or fresh produce on the same cutting board used for the chicken and be sure to wash the used cutting board, utensils, dishes and countertops with hot soapy water after prepping the chicken.