In many recipes, poultry must be washed with water before cooking. The National Health Service warns: "This is not only unnecessary, but also dangerous." Campylobacter foci on raw poultry cannot be washed off with cold or warm water, but can be spread to uninfected areas.
Why is rinsing dangerous?
When frying a bird, the lipid-water mixture spreads through the air along with pathogenic microbes. Then pathogenic microorganisms enter the human body through the respiratory tract and cause various disorders.
When rinsing, pathogenic microorganisms are distributed on a cutting board, work surface, sink or kitchen brush. There they come into contact not only with people, but also with other products that they often don’t cook - unlike poultry.
However, raw salads, vegetables must be washed to erase the adhering soil, any pesticide residues and remove toxins and microbes. Camplobacter is not on vegetables, so there is nothing to fear.
Every second chicken carries a pathogen
In 2017, more than 50% of chickens in Russian retail were infected with pathogenic bacteria. Almost half of the chicken is infected with dangerous germs that cause diarrhea.
Campylobacter affects the stomach and intestines and leads to severe diarrhea. Up to 70,000 people fall ill in Russia annually.
For a healthy person with strong protection, a bacterial infection is unpleasant. You have to drink a lot of fluids and mineral compounds. For infants, pregnant women and the elderly, infection with the pathogen in rare cases can be fatal.
Removing frozen water and cooking properly
Be sure to pour the thawed frozen water from the poultry and make sure that the food does not come into contact with it. It is recommended to fry the bird for a very long time.
Unlike hot water, when cooking soup, when frying or baking, the temperature is so high that pathogens die quickly.
Before adding chicken to the soup, it is recommended to fry it well to destroy campylobacter. Proper heat treatment eliminates the risk of infection by pathogenic microorganisms.
Separate cooking utensils must be used for raw and cooked food. It is also recommended that you thoroughly clean and dry work surfaces and equipment with warm water and detergent.
Frequent change of kitchen towels at a temperature of at least 60 ° C is an effective method of preventing disease. Campylobacter is very sensitive to high temperature. They cannot breed in food. However, microbes can survive for several months on frozen foods. They remain contagious even after thawing.
Regular updating of brushes and sponges for washing dishes prevents infection not only with campylobacter, but also with other microorganisms.
Infants, toddlers, the elderly, and people with limited immune defenses should avoid raw dairy products or meat.
It is recommended to cook raw milk, which comes directly from the manufacturer, before use. Pasteurized milk must be preferred.
How to detect an infection?
The disease usually begins with fever, headache, and muscle pain. Diarrhea can be mild, very watery, or even bloody. The disease lasts up to 1 week. Usually the pathology goes away without complications, and the symptoms disappear on their own.
As a complication in exceptional cases, rheumatoid arthritis or meningitis occurs. Neurological diseases such as Guillain-Barré syndrome are very rare.
Between infection and the onset of the disease usually takes from 2 to 5 days, in some cases from 1 to 10 days. Victims are contagious as long as they secrete pathogens along with stool. On average, the disease lasts from 2 to 4 weeks.
If symptoms of the disease occur, self-medication is not recommended. Each patient should consult a doctor who will prescribe effective therapy. Self-medication in the long run does more harm than good.
