(WZAW) — A new study released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that many Americans are putting themselves at unnecessary risk of illness.
Minday Brashears, the deputy undersecretary for food safety with the USDA joined NewsChannel 7 at 4 on Tuesday.
“We were curious to see if washing raw poultry increased the risk of foodborne illness,” Brashears said.
In conducting the study, tracer bacteria was added to raw chicken, so it could be found and observed consumers.
“What happened when they washed the chicken it actually contaminated the sink and the surrounding areas,” Brashears explained. “Then we asked them to prepare a salad, and when they prepared that salad,the bacteria from the chicken originally was cross-contaminated onto the salad. That could potentially cause foodborne illness for your family.”
Brashears said most people in the study didn’t try to clean up the sink area before they prepared the salad.
“And even when they did, they weren’t successful in cleaning that,” she added.
When it comes to leftovers, they need to go into the refrigerator right away. She said that a common misconception is the food needs to be cooled down on the counter first, but that’s not true.
“We want to make sure it’s chilled down quickly. Then it can stay in there for 48 hours or two days, and then after that time, it either needs to be tossed or frozen.”
The study also found that 74% of the time, people did not properly wash their hands.
“We recommend you wet your hands, add soap, lather your hands, and this needs to be done for 20 seconds in order to get all the bacteria or other debris off. Rinse your hands thoroughly, and then dry them with a clean paper towel or a clean cloth. That should go a long way in preventing foodborne illnesses,” Brashears said.
Millions of Americans get sick from foodborne illness each year, resulting in roughly 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.