Washing Raw Chicken Hurts More Than It Helps: Study

If you're one of the majority of Americans who washes their raw chicken before they cook it, stop now or watch a nauseating YouTube video made by scientists if you still need convincing. Rinsing a raw chicken actually splatters more germs than it rinses, according to researchers from Drexel University who have released a new study they conducted with the USDA. "Washing doesn't sanitize," said Jennifer Quinlan, one of the study's lead authors. Rather, her team explained, any bacteria on the raw chicken, like salmonella, ride misting water droplets out from the sink in a process known as "aerosolization." The safer way to prep your chicken, according to Quinlan, is just to unwrap it and put it in the pan without giving it a bath first. But if you've been rinsing your chicken your whole life, don't feel too bad: The scientists' survey found 90 percent of Americans do the same, legendary chef Julia Child among them.

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