From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.frugal-living,rec.food.cooking
Subject: Re: Do you reuse marinade?
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 18:42:42 -0500
Message-ID: <57gnn11pevul7ifd1km9gk3d56q6ifb23s@4ax.com>

On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 15:05:45 -0500, "A.C." <email@address.com> wrote:

>
>Neon John wrote:
>
>> It's one of those safety nazi things.
>
>i agree. most people are way too freaked out about food safety. i know people
>who are afraid to let chicken come to room temperature before they cook it. as
>long as you use good common sense and good sanitation, you're not going to die.

Allowing chicken to sit at room temperature is something that I
absolutely will not do.  There is a good reason.

The incidence of salmonella contamination in commercially grown
chicken rose dramatically several years ago.  This roughly corresponds
with the rise in the large factory farming operations.

A scientific investigation revealed the cause.  It seems that baby
chicks are receptive to harboring a variety of bacteria.  When the egg
is incubated by the hen, the chicks pick up harmless bacteria.
Machine-raised chicks, in contrast, don't have that opportunity.  It
seems like salmonella will exploit that and fill in the gap.  It
doesn't harm the chick but does harm people who eat 'em.

This same study discovered that the hatchlings could be inoculated
with a harmless bacteria that would block the uptake of salmonella.
Several large growers have started spraying new hatchlings with a
bacteria solution. These growers have seen a remarkable decrease in
salmonella in their products.

(the above is from an article in a restaurant trade journal that I
read).

You hear people say "Well my grandma didn't worry about chicken."
That's right and there is a good reason.  If that grandma lived in the
country she probably raised those chickens or bought them from local
stores that bought from local farmers that let the hens hatch the
chicks.

Since there is no way for the consumer (you and me) to know whether
the chicken at the mega-food store has been inoculated, I treat all
poultry as if it is contaminated until it is fully cooked.  I do NOT
leave poultry out to warm to room temperature.  It takes only a little
longer to thaw it in a cooler.

John