Chicken Buying Guide: Tips for buying, preserving, cooking and consuming chicken safely, and information on the hygiene processes necessary in chicken production. Most food poisoning is caused by eggs and raw sauces, but chicken also has a lot to do with it, as the hygienic conditions of chicken meat are not always the best. This guide will help you learn more about choosing and preserving this food.
The chicken should consume it as soon as possible
You can keep your chicken in better condition by following our recommendations:
- Chicken meat should be the last thing bought before leaving the store.
- To avoid breaking the cold chain, transport the chicken in an insulated bag.
- If you are not going to consume the chicken meat in 24-36 hours, you better freeze it.
- Prevent chicken meat from coming into contact with other foods, store it in a container and place it in the coldest part of the fridge.
- Cook the chicken well to ensure that the bacteria are destroyed, and after cooking, do not leave it at room temperature, since if bacteria remain, they could reproduce.
- You can keep leftover cooked meat in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, but when you eat it, be sure to heat it well.
chicken meat must be kept at a temperature below 4 ºC to avoid the appearance of bacteria with the consequent risk of poisoning.
Unfortunately, when it comes to bulk chicken, it is only met in half of the establishments visited.Somewhat better is the panorama of packaged chicken meat, despite being normally found in open shelves.
However, packaged chicken meat, according to OCU analysis results, has more mesophilic aerobic microorganisms (they are noted above all for their bad smell, viscous appearance, etc.).This shows that packaging in modified atmospheres to extend the life of a product does not give the expected results.
Our advice is that, at least when it comes to chicken, do not take into account the expiration date too much, as it is usually not very realistic.
Chicken production process: poor hygiene
The meat industry has become quite industrialized, so the slaughter, dressing and cutting of poultry is usually carried out mechanically.This implies that in the production process of chicken meat, the food we consume can become contaminated with remains of intestinal content.The OCU study on chicken meat reveals that in more than 80% of the samples analyzed there is fecal contamination.
The presence of staphylococci, salmonella and campylococcus, bacteria very dangerous to human health and closely linked to chicken meat, has also been analyzed.The presence of samonela is invaluable, and it is also eliminated by cooking the product well.Staphylococcus, present in the skin of chickens, is also kept at bay, as is campylococcus.
Packaged chicken is more expensive
Packaged chicken is more expensive than bulk.
Depending on the piece in question, buying the chicken on a tray can mean paying 13% more, for example, in the case of chicken breast fillets.This piece is the most expensive of all chicken meat, but it is also the least wasteful.You can always go for other tasty and cheaper pieces of the chicken, like the thigh, thigh, etc.
If you are a regular consumer of this meat, it is best to buy whole chicken and ask that it be cut up as you are going to cook it.
Dockwaters 