According to Food Standards Scotland (FSS), 50% of people in Scotland say they follow rules they learned as children when it comes to preparing and cooking food.
Only 45% of them follow the correct food safety behaviour of never washing raw poultry, such as the Christmas turkey.
The majority of adults in Scotland (79%) are worried about the prospects of contracting food poising such as campylobacter or salmonella but there are a number of common kitchen habits that may be putting them and their families at risk.
Washing poultry is unnecessary as proper cooking kills harmful bacteria like campylobacter and rinsing the raw meat will only splash harmful bacteria in the kitchen. Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in Scotland and the effects range from unpleasant to very serious illness.
WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT CAMPYLOBACTER?
Read IFST’s Information Statement on Foodborne Campylobacteriosis.