The First Raw Chicken Mistake You're Making Before You Even Leave The Supermarket

Proper food handling is absolutely vital, especially when it comes to raw chicken. Up to 80% of foodborne illnesses can be completely prevented by simply handling food in a safe and sanitary manner. However, one of the biggest raw chicken mistakes you can make happens before you even exit the grocery store. When you select a package, always place the chicken into a disposable plastic shopping bag before it goes into your cart with the other food. Skipping this step can lead to stomach aches or even serious illness.

When you store raw chicken incorrectly in your shopping cart or at home, you increase the chances of cross-contamination. Even though store-bought chicken is wrapped in plastic, small amounts of liquid from it can still get out. This means if you place raw chicken directly into your cart, it can get those particles on other food or beverages. At best, this gets your other food gross and slimy, and at worst, it can be dangerous to your health. Keeping raw chicken separate with an added layer of plastic is an easy way to stop that from happening. So, place your chicken in one of the disposable bags available at most grocery stores, then put it at the bottom of your cart so it can't get juice on any other food. More than one million people in the United States get food poisoning from raw poultry each year, so it pays to be cautious.

There's a good reason that people tend not to eat raw chicken, and it has to do with bacteria. Raw meat is a breeding ground for bacteria such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Clostridium perfringens. When ingested, these bacteria can cause food poisoning and, in rare cases, even death. The liquid on raw chicken, when it gets onto ingredients you don't necessarily cook, can carry harmful bacteria. These bacteria can survive long enough on surfaces to get into your body and make you sick, so keeping raw chicken away from the rest of your food is incredibly important.

You should keep it in a separate plastic bag when it goes on the conveyor belt during checkout as well, and then into meat-designated grocery bags. This prevents cross-contamination on the checkout lane and keeps other shoppers and grocery workers safer. After that, place it into the fridge within two hours to stop bacterial growth.

There are a few other things you can do to avoid bad chicken at the grocery store. Check the packaging for tears or pooled juices before adding it to your cart to prevent leaks. Always inspect the sell-by date to ensure that the chicken is still fresh before buying. Touch the top of the package to see how cold it is, and select the coldest chicken available, because warmer raw meat is more likely to harbor bacteria. Following these steps before bagging your chicken can help you avoid food poisoning.