Consumer Reports recently tested a large sample of chickens purchased across the country to see whether the meat contained the two leading bacterial causes of food poisoning—campylobacter or salmonella. According to government statistics, those two bacteria are responsible for sickening about 3.5 million Americans a year, and more than 700 people die each year from one of those illnesses.
Chickens can become contaminated in several ways, by pecking at droppings that carry germs, eating insects that have picked up bacteria, or drinking contaminated water. Both salmonella and campylobacter flourish in the intestines of the birds and spread throughout flocks. Although there are many measures in place to limit concentrations of bacteria in chicken houses, bacteria in a chicken’s digestive tract can wind up on its carcass when it is slaughtered, buried inside feather follicles on the skin.
When contaminated chickens are delivered to supermarkets, the problems can get even worse. Any mishandling, improper storage, or incorrect cooking method, and the risks of food poisoning are multiplied. Both salmonella and campylobacter can cause diarrhea, bloating, nausea, and vomiting, and campylobacter can also lead to arthritis, meningitis, and Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disease. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the rate of laboratory-confirmed food poisonings has decreased since 2001, but the numbers are not accurate because only a small percentage of foodborne illnesses are reported to public health authorities.
Consumer Reports tested a nationwide sample of chickens in 2003 and found that 49% tested positive for one or both bacteria. Since that time, leading chicken producers have stabilized the incidence of salmonella, but the presence of campylobacter has increased at a startling rate. The recent study found that 83% harbored campylobacter or salmonella. Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture regularly tests chickens for salmonella against a federal standard, there has not been a standard set for campylobacter.
It is becoming increasingly important for consumers to take steps to protect themselves against food poisoning by cooking chicken safely and thoroughly, and guarding against cross-contamination. Moreover, most of the bacteria Consumer Reports found in contaminated chicken showed resistance to one or more antibiotics, including some prescribed to humans to treat infections and some fed to chickens to speed their growth. So some people who become sick by eating contaminated chicken may have to try several antibiotics before finding one that works.
In the largest national analysis of contamination and antibiotic resistance in store-bought chicken ever published, Consumer Reports tested 525 fresh broilers in 23 states last spring. Four leading brands (Foster Farms, Perdue, Tyson, and Pilgrim’s Pride) were represented in the test, including 10 organic and 12 non-organic no-antibiotics brands, including three that are processed using an "air chilled" slaughterhouse process designed to reduce contamination. Findings from the report were startling:
* Campylobacter was present in 81% of the chickens, salmonella in 15%; both bacteria in 13%. Only 17% had neither pathogen—the lowest percentage of clean birds in all four of tests Consumer Reports has performed since 1998.
* No major brand was cleaner than others overall. Foster Farms, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Tyson chickens were lower in salmonella incidence than Perdue, but they were higher in campylobacter.
* Most premium chickens had high rates of contamination, but as in previous Consumer Reports tests, Ranger—a no-antibiotics brand sold in the Northwest—was extremely clean. Of the 10 samples analyzed, none had salmonella, and only two had campylobacter.
* Among all brands, 84% of the salmonella and 67% of the campylobacter organisms analyzed showed resistance to one or more antibiotics.
The bottom line is that consumers are responsible for protecting themselves, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure:
* Make raw chicken one of the last items you pick up at the grocery store. Be sure it is well-wrapped and kept in a plastic bag, to keep juices from leaking out onto other food.
* Raw chicken should be stored in a refrigerator set to 40 degrees or lower. If it is not used within a couple of days, it should be frozen until it is used.
* Thaw frozen chicken in a refrigerator, in its original packaging or on a plate, or on a plate in a microwave oven. If chicken is thawed in a microwave, it should be cooked right away.
* Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within two hours of cooking.
* Don’t return cooked meat to the same plate that held it raw.
* Keep raw chicken away from other foods. Immediately after preparing it, wash your hands with soap and water and clean anything that you or the raw chicken touched.
* When frying, broiling, or grilling chicken, don’t use the same implement to turn it throughout the cooking process. After the outside is thoroughly cooked, switch to a clean utensil so the cooked chicken will not be touched by any juices from the raw chicken that are on the cooking utensil you were using when the chicken was raw.
* Most importantly, to kill harmful bacteria, cook chicken to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees.
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