us: Bacteria found in 83% of chickens

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Bacteria found in 83% of chickens

Updated 12/5/2006 7:21 AM ET

By Weise, USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-12-04-chicken-bacteria_x.htm

Cook your chicken to 165 degrees and wash up with soap and hot water

afterward. That's the take-home message of a report released Monday by

Consumer Reports. It found that 83% of 525 chickens it tested were

infected with either campylobacter or salmonella bacteria or both.

The chickens were purchased from supermarkets, bulk retailers, gourmet

shops and natural food stores in 23 states. Both bacteria can cause

diarrhea, cramping, fever, nausea and vomiting, and life-threatening

infections in the elderly, babies and people with impaired immune systems.

Government agencies must act if consumers are to trust the chicken supply,

says Geoffrey , the magazine's director of consumer science.

Those figures are " greatly exaggerated, " counters Lobb of the

National Chicken Council. And of the U.S. Department of

Agriculture notes that the number of chickens tested was very small.

" That's 500 samples out of 9 billion chickens slaughtered a year, " he

says.

The report's salmonella rate was 15%. That's in line with USDA figures

showing a 16.3% rate in 2005, says.

But Consumer Reports found campylobacter in a whopping 81% of the chickens

it tested, up from 42% in a 2003 test. USDA does not yet test for the

bacteria, although says it is researching a testing protocol.

Federal regulation is " beyond overdue, " says Halloran of the

Consumers Union, which publishes the magazine. " They may criticize our

testing methodology but they're not doing any testing at all. "

Earlier studies have yielded very different findings. A 2005 study by the

USDA and National Chicken Council found only 26% of 4,200 broiler

carcasses tested were infected with the bacteria. A 2004 study by the Food

and Drug Administration found campylobacter in 60% in chicken breasts.

Each used different scientific methods.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that

campylobacter and salmonella from all sources sickens more than 3.4

million Americans each year and kills more than 700. But rates of the

campylobacteriosis infection are down 30% since 1998, the CDC says, to

12.6 infections per 100,000 people.

Campylobacter is easily destroyed, the CDC's Tauxe says. Soap, hot

water, cooking or freezing kills it readily. " You leave salmonella out

overnight on the counter and it grows. You leave campylobacter out and it

dies. "

PROTECTING YOURSELF

• Buy well-wrapped chicken and make sure it doesn't leak on other groceries.

• Store at 40 degrees or below.

• Thaw chicken in the refrigerator or the microwave. Cook microwave-thawed

chicken right away.

• Cook chicken to at least 165 degrees.

• Refrigerator or freeze leftovers within two hours of cooking.

Source: Consumer Reports

FOOD SAFETY WORRIES

Bacteria found in 83% of chicken

Food-borne bacteria evolving, becoming more dangerous

What is the consumer's role in dealing with food-borne illnesses?

Outbreak lifts sales of produce washes

'Fresh Express leads the pack' in safety

All bacteria may not come out in the wash

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