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Feb 5, 2007 11:00 pm US/Eastern
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3 On Your Side: Dirty Chicken
by Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
It's high in protein, low in fat and the top selling meat in America. It's chicken. You may have heard about concerns related with salmonella, but now there's another danger.
3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan found you could be dishing up a dirty bird.
For many, chicken is the meal of choice. But you may be serving up more than you bargained for!
"A lot of consumers may not know that when they do shop for their chicken broilers in the store that up to 4 out of 5 of them can be contaminated with dangerous bacteria," said Senior Scientist Dr. Urvashi Rangan of Consumer Reports.
Bacteria like salmonella and campylobacter -- dangerous pathogens that make people sick.
"These bacteria are alive until you cook them so the potential for them to replicate and grow over the whole time that product is raw is there," said Dr. Rangan.
Consumer Reports conducted the largest analysis of contamination of store-bought chicken ever published.
Of 525 chickens they bought nationwide, "We found that 83% of the broilers that we tested contained either salmonella or campylobacter," said Dr. Rangan.
For years, salmonella was a primary poisoning culprit but incidents have leveled off.
Now it's campylobacter that's finding its way onto more chickens than ever.
In a spot check,
3 On Your Side went shopping and had the chickens we purchased locally tested.
Twenty percent, one in five, tested positive for campylobacter.
"There are some neurological effects associated with campylobacter poisoning, especially in people who have compromised immune systems like children and the elderly," said Dr. Rangan.
So what can you do to protect yourself? It starts at the supermarket.
Buy your chicken last before heading to the checkout counter.
"That way the chicken can stay as cold as possible. That's one important step toward keeping bacteria growth low," explained Dr. Rangan.
Double bag it to keep the juices from leaking out and contaminating other items in your cart and later in your refrigerator.
And be sure to cook any chicken thoroughly. The inside should be 165 degrees, using a meat thermometer to be sure.
And remember, anything that chicken touches, runs a risk of being contaminated.
"Consumers, what they don't realize is they have to be a little bit like lab technicians in their own kitchen laboratory which means if you touch that chicken, even with one finger, that finger should not touch anything else until you're washed it thoroughly with soap and water," said Dr. Rangan.
There is no federal standard for campylobacter.
And if you think that buying a pricier bird will protect you, think again.
High priced, low priced, brand name, store brand, even organic birds all tested positive in the Consumer Reports analysis.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)