Food safety experts say theres a lot you’re able to do.
We consulted food safety experts and a nutritionist heres what they had to say.
How much bacteria is lurking on our chicken?
Approximately 30% of grocery store chicken is contaminated with bacteria, he told HuffPost.
This number would include salmonella, E. coli, listeria, staphylococcus, and campylobacter.
Before you completely freak out, cooking the chicken will kill this bacteria, Martin said.
The process of de-feathering and evisceration can allow some of that bacteria to get onto the flesh.
Additional processing steps, like cutting and grinding, can also expose the meat to bacteria.
Processing facility sanitation is critical to keeping the surfaces clean.
So what can you do to decrease your odds of picking out chicken that could make you sick?
Certain labels have little impact on food safety.
First, Nestle emphasizes, be aware of which labels are essentially meaningless.
Natural has no real meaning, she said.
Hormone-free is another meaningless term, as its illegal to use hormones in raising chickens, Martin said.
All chicken in the U.S. is, by law, hormone-free.
The USDA monitors this, he said.
Chickens raised for meat in the U.S. are not held in cages, Nestle said.
Egg-laying chickens are held in cages, and free-range does not have a standard.
But some labels do offer useful information.
The humanely-raised label is overseen by a non-profit organization called theHumane Farm Animal Care, Samuels said.
Likewise, the organic label is regulated by the USDA.
They also must be fed organic feed and cant be given drugs or antibiotics.
Animal Welfare Approved is another label to look for.
But is humanely raised chicken safer chicken?
Martin also said an easy chicken safety hack is simply to pick the freshest chicken at the store.
Pick the product with the latest packed on or use by date, he said.
Some bacteria can still grow at refrigerated temperatures, albeit more slowly.
The same goes for nutrition, he said: pick the freshest product available.
This post originally appeared onHuffPost.
