Safe Handling Of Raw Meat

Selecting meat

When buying (fresh or frozen) poultry, you should pay attention to shelf life, storage temperature, packaging (must be undamaged) and user instructions, if any. Slovenian food companies have placed instructions on safe cooking on packaged poultry products. Poultry should be carried from the store to our home in cooling bags or similar items as quickly as possible to maintain the cold chain.

Before cooking

It is not recommended to wash raw poultry before cooking. Although washing could perhaps reduce the contamination of meat’s surface, water aerosol from the washing would spread micro-organisms all over the kitchen counter, furniture, and utensils.

Storage

Poultry should be immediately placed in a refrigerator (4°C) or freezer (-18°C) in its original packaging. The meat should be put on a refrigerator shelf in a manner preventing meat juice spilling on other food.

Cutting

Chicken should be always cut on a plastic cutting board. Wooden boards can absorb juices and are much harder to clean.  Different boards should be used for cutting raw and cooked food. Keep prepared chicken separate from raw one.

Cooking

Poultry should be cooked (plainly cooked, boiled, fried or roasted) to prevent intestinal infections. The household should perhaps have a thermometer to measure whether the temperature at the centre of the foodstuff was high enough during cooking. Most harmful micro-organisms that can be present in foodstuffs are destroyed at temperatures above 70°C in a couple of minutes.