Germ-Vision

I receive hundreds of e-mails on a daily basis from several different government agencies. One, a retweet from the USDA Farm Service Agency, caught my eye the other day. It simply stated, “Julia Child Was Wrong: Don’t Wash Your Raw Chicken Folks”. Ok, now my curiosity was peeked - the Queen of Culinary wrong about something that seems so common sense basic? Of course I quickly clicked on the link, which took me to a very enlightening and informative article relating to the reasons why cooks should not wash raw poultry - reasons that would make even Julia Child sit up and take notice. The “Don’t Wash Your Chicken Campaign” is the brain-child of food safety researcher Jennifer Quinlan and graduate student Shauna Henley and was developed upon their realization that few educational materials were available to inform people that washing raw chicken is unsafe. The campaign’s four video mini-dramas are punctuated with the sound of shattering glass, “signifying the shattering of the commonly held illusion that washing raw chicken prior to cooking is safe, or even prevents food-borne illness”. To find out why this is true visit drexel.edu/dontwashyourchicken. But be forewarned, the Germ-Vision will send chills down your spine.