What you need to know about chicken
Published Saturday August 2nd, 2008
Avoid salmonella with these common sense tips
It's one of the great tastes of summer. Chicken, moist and tender inside, slathered with sauce on the outside, and grilled just right on the barbecue. But slip up in your preparation and that family feast could potentially turn into a bit of a family frenzy, with members running for the bathroom. The salmonella bacterium, commonly carried by poultry, is a frequent cause of food poisoning.
Sharon Boyne-Travis, district operations officer with the Federal Food Inspection Agency, says it's important to take the risk seriously, though she adds her extensive knowledge of food contamination hasn't put her off.
"I would never discourage people from eating it, but just be aware, take precautions."
In fact, her favourite meat to eat is chicken.
In sufficient quantities, salmonella can cause fever, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting from 12 to 36 hours after being ingested. While most people recover after about five days with rest and liquids, salmonella can be fatal in infants, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems, such as those with cancer.
The bacteria exists naturally in the intestines of chickens. It becomes a problem when the meat isn't properly cooked or if it comes into contact with food we eat raw.
At home, Sharon practices what she preaches. "I wash everything down afterwards and I put my cloths in the wash and wash them in warm water, not cold," she says, naming some of the best precautions.
If you are unfortunate enough to suffer food poisoning from salmonella and symptoms persist for more than 24 hours or if you are in a high risk group, Sharon recommends you get help. If you're part of a large number of people who get sick, she suggests you report it by calling 381-7683 so the cause can be investigated.
Salmonella may be bacteria, but antibiotics have not proved that useful. Scientists are trying to come up with other solutions and Canada is in the forefront of salmonella research.
Amit Bhavsar at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver is part of a team trying to figure out how salmonella invades and then avoids our immune system. What's been determined so far is fascinating.
"The bulk of the bacteria die in the stomach acids, while a small percentage go down to the small intestine where it has an ability to latch on to the cells that line your gut and it convinces these cells, who normally don't take anything up, to fold around it and draw it in," explains Amit.
The post doctoral researcher adds, "It turns out that there's a really interesting class of proteins that the bacteria can inject into the host cell."
Salmonella apparently does this by sticking a "needle" through itself and the host cell and injecting a protein that hijacks the cell's own protein and then it can transit through these cells and travel to organs such as the liver.
He says research at Michael Smith Laboratories is in the early stages, but breakthroughs can happen at any time.
"If we could come up with a therapeutic treatment, a drug, to administer to someone who has salmonella poisoning it would be very helpful," he says.
In the meantime, Sharon offers these tips on how to avoid sickness from salmonella during barbecue season.
* Only buy well-chilled chicken. If the freezer at the grocery store isn't registering below 4 C (39.2 F) or if the vendor at the farmer's market doesn't have the meat on ice or in a cooler, avoid it. Salmonella loves warmth.
* Wipe your grocery cart handle. Many grocery stores now supply anti-bacterial wipes. Salmonella can be transferred from the hands of shoppers who don't wash regularly or who have picked up leaky packages of chicken.
* Double bag your chicken. If chicken juices escape, at least they won't drip all over your other groceries or contaminate your fabric tote. Or designate one tote a "meat only" bag and wash it well after every grocery order.
* Put chicken in your grocery cart last. (This is a good tip for all meat.)
* Put raw chicken in the fridge right away. Preferably on the bottom level on a tray where it won't leak on other food. If you have to leave your groceries in the car for more than a couple of hours, bring a cooler bag or cooler and ice along.
* Freeze your chicken if you're not planning to cook it right away, but not for too long. Freezing doesn't kill the salmonella, it only slows it down. If you leave raw chicken in the freezer for say, six months, it may become too contaminated to eat.
* Defrost in the fridge. Or under cold, running water. Not on the counter or in standing water or under warm water.
* Marinate if you like, but only in the fridge. Vinegar and spices do not kill salmonella. Only sufficient heat does.
* Don't bother rinsing chicken. You can cook it as is.
* Wash your knife and cutting board after cutting it up. Whether it's plastic or wood, wash your board well with soap and warm water or keep a container of three cups (750 ml) water and 3 teaspoons (15 ml) bleach for cleaning up.
* Clean up juices and spills with paper towel. If you insist on using cloth or sponges, put them in the laundry right away and wash them in warm water.
* If you have a cut on your hands, cover it. Use a bandage or disposable gloves to prevent bacteria from getting into your wound.
* Wash styrofoam meat trays and plastic wrappings before putting them in the dry garbage. Dispose of absorbent meat tray pads in the wet garbage and keep them away from pets.
* Wash your barbecue utensils well after putting chicken on the grill. That includes your tongs and your sauce brush. Anything that touches the raw chicken should not be used on the cooked chicken without being cleaned first. Afterward don't just rinse, but wash your sink well.
* Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Seventy-five per cent of all infections can be prevented this way.
* Cook chicken thoroughly. That means until there's no pink near the bone or until a meat thermometer reads more than 74 C (165 F).
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