Poultry Safety Cooking

Food security has become a hot topic over the past five years or more due to the overwhelming appeal of many foods with one problem or another. In Food safety in the United States is regulated by the Government.

If you are one of many turning your nose to poultry because of the threat of bird flu, you may be interested to know that there are measures you can take to continue eating your favorite foods. There were conflicting reports whether the virus was spread by consuming undercooked poultry, but you should err on the side of safety in this respect in order to avoid infection.

Interestingly many of bird flu precautions are the same precautions you should already be underway to eliminate bacteria like salmonella. A bit of common sense and good hygiene will go a long way to prevent infection.

The first and most obvious tip is-DO NOT EAT uncooked poultry! Besides being disgusting, is also dangerous. You should thoroughly cook all the meat you ingest. How do you know if the meat is fully cooked? Should not keep any pinkness, the juice should run clear and the meat should reach a temperature of at least 70 to 75 degrees Celsius or about 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Although freezing won't kill the disease, heat-but only at sufficient temperatures. Therefore, you should be sure to Cook all poultry thoroughly.

Any other suggestions of the World Health Organization (who) there are a few more of the basics. You shouldn't treat raw meat without wash hands thoroughly before and after (with antibacterial soap, preferably), you should take particular care not to cross contaminate cooked food and raw meat, allowing the two to get in touch, using the same knife or other utensil, or handling food without washing hands properly, and do not place cooked food back on the same plate or a dish was on when it was raw. Each of these is basic information that applies, not just poultry, but all the meat.

Also, wash all surfaces and items that are in contact with raw meat (with anti-bacterial SOAP or detergent). You should also avoid using raw or undercooked eggs in food preparation and cooking the eggs carefully (we recommend cooking the egg yolks until they are no longer runny).

Meat handling, you should also remember that the avian influenza virus is not killed by freezing, then, all precautions should be taken in handling poultry frozen as if it had just come out of the market. With these simple steps, you can feel comfortable eating poultry, free of worries about bird flu.