A recent survey conducted by Australia’s Food Safety Information Council showed that almost half of Australians wash their chicken before cooking it.

Despite the popular kitchen habit, food safety authorities and regulators around the world do not recommend the practise.

The reasoning is that washing chicken can spread dangerous bacteria like salmonella around your kitchen, especially if you’re a particularly enthusiastic (splashy) chicken cleaner.

So why do so many people do it? A recent survey revealed that modern-day shoppers believe that you can wash away dangerous contaminants and bacteria on the chicken.

However, food safety regulators say this is unnecessary and just doesn’t work.

A study by Shauna C. Henley et al. published in the European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST) found that washing raw chicken that had been inoculated with salmonella in tap water or a diluted lemon juice or vinegar solution to be an inefficient method for removing pathogens.

Washing the chicken results in pathogens both in the wash water and on the chicken, increasing the risk for cross-contamination and potential food-borne illness.

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Instead of washing your chicken, you should adhere to proper cooking practices and hygiene. Experts agree that a chicken’s internal temperature should be at least 74 degrees Celsius to kill off harmful bacteria.

Always disinfect surfaces that have been in contact with raw chicken immediately after use, and avoid cross-contamination by storing your raw meat in the lowest part of your refrigerator.

If you absolutely cannot give up washing your chicken, it’s better to do it in a bowl of water rather than under a running tap to avoid water splashing across your kitchen.

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