Chlorinated Chicken

[JMN2]

I would like to stop having to bleach the whole kitchen sink area after I've cut some chicken breast to my curry or tarragon cream sauce. On the whole, I am in favour of having no salmonella in the chicken I use. The problem over the pond seems to be they eat too damn much of it. If it was dangerous to health there would be quite a few legal cases pending, given the US legal environment. However, I haven't seen any medical or legal cases on bleach chicken - just a lot of hot air from this side of the pond.

I used to rinse my chicken in a very clandestine manner behind closed curtains. Now I wipe it off with a kitchen towel.

[swill453]

I find chicken doesn't need any kind of rinsing, wiping or cleaning. Just cut it and cook it. The cooking will kill any nasties.

Scott.

[stewamax]

Even better: cook it then cut it. Stuffing apart, the ideal is for the chicken to go direct to a pre-heated fan oven at 170 deg C without any covering for 30 mins.
Then further cooking to taste.

[UncleEbenezer]

I suspect the hot air is a red herring. Distract the punters from more serious things (like beef pumped full of growth hormones) which will be part of any trade deal with the US.

I wouldn't touch chlorinated chicken, but then I wouldn't touch the equally-nasty things we already get here either.

[wilbobob]

My understanding was that the concern is not so much that chickens have been washed in a chlorine solution, but that the washing was a substitute for proper husbandry while the bird was alive. Let the bird pick up any infection and sort it out after slaughter.

[jackdaww]

i avoid chicken as much as possible , mainly because of the appalling way most are reared and transported , partly because they are omniverous so they will eat anything so unscrupulous farmers feed them anything .

same goes for pork and farmed fish , the latter are probably fed on raw sewage in some parts .

beef is no doubt packed with antibiotics and hormones .

i eat lamb , in the hope its the least worst .

[tea42]

"Washing the chickens in a strong chlorine solution (20-50 parts per million of chlorine) provides a brash, cost-effective method of killing any microorganisms on the surface of the bird, particularly bacteria such as species of Salmonella and Campylobacter. This helps prevent the meat being contaminated with microbes during slaughter and evisceration.

Why is the process banned in the EU?

US chicken has been banned in the EU since 1997 because of this chlorine washing process. But this isn’t because the treatment itself has been deemed dangerous. A report by the EU Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures, for example, highlighted that the chemical cleaning treatment can be effective at removing foodborne pathogens depending on how it is used. The real fear is that heavily soiled birds may not be sufficiently disinfected, and that relying on chlorine washing could lead to poorer hygiene standards overall."

If we want to export electrical equipment to the US it will have to conform to Underwriters Laboratory standards. If US car manufacturers want to export cars here the cars must have repeater flashers. In the same way insisting that imported poultry must comply with our standards is our prerogative. It doesnt stop free (tarriff free) trade.

[johnstevens77]

I find chicken doesn't need any kind of rinsing, wiping or cleaning. Just cut it and cook it. The cooking will kill any nasties.

Scott.

Me too. I must have cooked thousands of unwashed, unwiped chickens in my working life, (well, perhaps my staff did the actual cooking but you know what I mean), can't say that I know of any problems. Anyway, most of the chickens in the shops are only appologies for the real thing, free range and organic. And while we are on the subject of chickens, what happens to all those tasty free range egg layers when they come to the end of their useful lives? I asked my butcher and he said that they were not allowed to be sold for human consumption in UK. Is that right and if so, why?

john

[Slarti]

And while we are on the subject of chickens, what happens to all those tasty free range egg layers when they come to the end of their useful lives? I asked my butcher and he said that they were not allowed to be sold for human consumption in UK. Is that right and if so, why?

"Spent Layers" usually go into chicken processing and so are often what is in chicken pies, etc.
If you know of a local farm where they do eggs then you may well be able buy spent layers over the gate, as long as you are prepared to slaughter them yourself.

There are no regulations against selling the birds for human consumption, but some of them may have been treated with veterinary medicines not approved for use in animals human consumption and those obviously can not be sold for consumption.

The spent layers will probably keep on laying for quite a while afterthe eggs are no longer acceptable to the supermarkets because of thinner shells and misshapes.

I'm lucky in that I can go and see where my chickens and eggs come from and see that they are truly free range as opposed to held by the 10s of thousands in a barn that is opened during the day. They cost a bit more, but it is worth it to me to know that the animal welfare is better, and I think that they taste better.

Slarti

[jackdaww]

"Spent Layers" usually go into chicken processing and so are often what is in chicken pies, etc.
If you know of a local farm where they do eggs then you may well be able buy spent layers over the gate, as long as you are prepared to slaughter them yourself.

I'm lucky in that I can go and see where my chickens and eggs come from and see that they are truly free range as opposed to held by the 10s of thousands in a barn that is opened during the day. They cost a bit more, but it is worth it to me to know that the animal welfare is better, and I think that they taste better.

Slarti

-------------------------------

a very important point .

many of these so called free range hens hardly get outside let alone range.

and some genuine free range hens range on bare land .

the BIG SECRET here is that hens need to range on GRASS.

it is the vitamin A in the grass which gives the yolks a true orange colour .

when i let the hens out in the morning , the first thing they go for is water , then the grass.