By Helen Carter
University of Georgia
You may be asking yourself, “With all this talk about bird flu,
is it safe for me to handle and eat chicken?”
In University of Georgia Cooperative Extension offices across the
state, that’s the question agents are answering most often these
days.
Recent media coverage of avian influenza, or bird flu, has
consumers questioning the safety of poultry. To date, the
guidelines for safely handling and cooking chicken haven’t
changed.
The World Health Organization still says that no epidemiological
information suggests that anyone has been infected through eating
well-cooked, contaminated poultry meat. WHO also says there’s no
evidence that products shipped from affected areas have been the
source of infection in humans.
Proper cooking
Normal cooking to the recommended temperatures (170 degrees
Fahrenheit for poultry pieces and 180 for whole birds) will
inactivate the viruses if they’re present. Other guidelines:
- Separate raw meat from cooked
or ready-to-eat foods. - Don’t use the same cutting
board or knife for raw poultry and other foods. - Don’t handle raw and cooked
foods without washing your hands thoroughly in between.
Wash your hands, too, after handling frozen or thawed chicken or
eggs. Wash your hands with warm, running water and soap for at
least 20 seconds, rubbing them together and rinsing thoroughly. - Don’t put cooked meat back
onto a plate or surface with raw meat juices. - Don’t use raw or soft-cooked
eggs in food preparations that won’t be heat-treated or
cooked. - Keep surfaces clean.
Thoroughly wash surfaces, plates or utensils that have come into
contact with raw meat. - Use a thermometer. Again, cook
poultry pieces to 170 and whole birds to 180. You can’t tell by
looks if the meat is properly done. It’s important to use a meat
thermometer.
To learn more about this or other food topics, contact your local
UGA Cooperative Extension office at 1-800-ASK-UGA1.
(Helen Carter is the University of Georgia Cooperative
Extension County Coordinator in Pike County, Ga.)
