Consumer reports recently did an article called “Dirty Birds” on bacterial contamination of chicken. They tested over 500 store bought chicken and found that 83% were contaminated with the food poisoning causing bacteria Campylobacter and Salmonella. This is a 69% increase over a similar study that they did in 2003. All major brands were affected as well as “natural” and “organic” brands. In fact the organic brands were actually more infected with Salmonella.
These bacteria infect over 3.4 million Americans and kill over 700 people a year.
They recommend:
- In the supermarket, choose well-wrapped chicken, and put it in a plastic bag to keep juices from leaking.
- Store chicken at 40° F or below. If you won’t use it for a couple of days, freeze it.
- Thaw frozen chicken in a refrigerator (in its packaging and on a plate), or on a plate in a microwave oven. Cook chicken thawed in a microwave oven right away.
- Separate raw chicken from other foods. Immediately after preparing it, wash your hands with soap and water, and clean anything you or raw chicken touched.
- To kill harmful bacteria, cook chicken to at least 165° F.
- Don’t return cooked meat to the plate that held it raw.
- Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within two hours of cooking.
In addition, Michael Lebowitz recommends that if you get a bout of the “stomach flu”, to avoid poultry until you are healed. If you are infected, Thorne’s Formula SF722 and Morinda Supreme will combat the illness.
Dirty Birds via Michael Lebowitz’ Sporadic Newletter
Update 11-2015
Not everyone gets full blown stomach flu with these infections. More commonly, people get a low grade infection. For those patients, (myself included) I’ve found that Pepti-Guard by Thorne to work excellently. If you are pregnant, I recommend Reshi Supreme.
Symptoms include indigestion, hunger pangs, need to eat constantly, difficulty eating, weight gain, wanting to vomit after eating too much.
Addressing this helped me lose weight.
Bacterial Contamination In Chicken
