Thread: Improperly Cooked Chicken Can Cause Major Health Problems

http://www.wral.com/money/10470043/detail.html

Improperly Cooked Chicken Can Cause Major Health Problems
A simple meal of chicken could cause serious health problems.

Leighton Kunkle knows that firsthand. He now has nerve damage in his hands and feet from Guillain-Barré syndrome. That's a side effect of food poisoning caused by the bacteria campylobacter. Kunkle said he believes he got sick from eating undercooked chicken in a restaurant.

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Related: Consumer Reports Information About Chicken

"I spent the next few months in the hospital, in ICU, sitting there paralyzed from the neck down -- had to learn how to walk again, eat again, talk again" said Kunkle.

Consumer Reports tested chicken purchased nationwide to see if it contained campylobacter or salmonella, the two leading bacterial causes of food poisoning. According to government figures, the bacteria sickens about 3.5 million Americans a year and kills more than 700.

They tested 525 fresh whole broilers from the top-selling brands -- Foster Farms, Perdue, Pilgrim's Pride, and Tyson -- as well as 22 premium brands labeled "USDA organic" or "raised without antibiotics."

"We found that only 17 percent of the chicken we tested was free of both salmonella and campylobacter," said Consumer Reports tester Geoff Martin. "And overall, premium brands were a little more likely to carry salmonella."

The tests revealed an even bigger worry -- often, the bacteria were resistant to one or more antibiotics.

"That means if you get sick, some antibiotics might not work," Martin said.

The bottom line is that consumers have to protect themselves. That can be done by cooking chicken thoroughly. It should reach at least 165 degrees to kill any bacteria.

Besides being careful about how chicken is cooked, consumers also have to be very careful about how it's handled when it's raw. Consumers should make it one of the last items picked up before checkout at the grocery store. They should also make sure it's well-wrapped and put it in a plastic bag to keep juices from leaking onto other food.

Chicken should be stored in a refrigerator set at 40 degrees or lower. And if it's not used within a couple of days, it should be frozen it. And again, chicken should be cooked so the internal temperature is at least 165 degrees.

Consumer Reports is a not-for-profit organization which accepts no advertising. It has no commercial relationship with any advertiser or sponsor on this site.
Copyright ©2006 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. All rights reserved.

OMG, Guillain-Barré Syndrome Very rare!

I know personally what this will do to you. My x-boyfriend's mother contracted it from the flu shot. So did Andy Griffith but he survived it.

She even went to the John Hopkins and they Mayo Clinic but they could do nothing for the pain. All the casing on her nerves were stripped away and it was like here nerves were constantly detecting pain. Horrid! She spent the rest of her life on Delouden (sp) and she was eventually paralyzed. It killed her within 5 years.

This is bad!

Dixie

barn yard buzzard

Dixie, how truly horrible for her.

Killer Chicken.

Ugh!

I would really like to know why all this salmonella is around now. Years ago they never gave chickens hormones or antibiotics and you never heard of salmonella but then the poultry workers were legal and had good hygiene habits.

In case someone doesn't know, here is a good way to 'help' sanitize your chicken.

Kosher salt - LOTS
soak the chick in it for several hours {cold water just covering it}

** be sure to take out the watchamacallit under top of the thigh bone and rinse out the residue.
{carries bacteria}

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In Tampa today, the police found rows of cages filled with 60 roosters in the backyard of a home. "We've got three people in custody and all three are facing charges of animal cruelty," said Tampa police. "The owner is facing additional charges of operating a property for the purpose of fighting animals."

When we arrived it sounded like there was a fight in progress. "There were people cheering," Vetzel said. "I don't speak Spanish, so I'm not sure what was said. You could hear the birds."

Animal services says the roosters they seized will likely be euthanized.

THIS DOESN'T SOUND LIKE ASSIMILATION TO ME!! IN MY AREA, CHICKENS ARE A COMMON SIGHT

Originally Posted by PatriotHawk

In Tampa today, the police found rows of cages filled with 60 roosters in the backyard of a home. "We've got three people in custody and all three are facing charges of animal cruelty," said Tampa police. "The owner is facing additional charges of operating a property for the purpose of fighting animals."

When we arrived it sounded like there was a fight in progress. "There were people cheering," Vetzel said. "I don't speak Spanish, so I'm not sure what was said. You could hear the birds."

Animal services says the roosters they seized will likely be euthanized.

THIS DOESN'T SOUND LIKE ASSIMILATION TO ME!! IN MY AREA, CHICKENS ARE A COMMON SIGHT

So they arrest them for animal cruelty but
THEY DON'T ARREST THEM FOR BREAKING DRIVING LAWS, DOCUMENT FRAUD and every other law one can think of!! How about CRUELTY TO AMERICANS?

I'm just smokin' hot and shooting fire tonight.

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I have said this before, maybe I think to much but there are so many things that seem to come together. Bear with me.

This is not necessarily in any order.

1. More and more we hear about e-coli, salmonella, etc in our food (hmm, could it be because of unsanitary practices by the workers?).
2. The government wanting to spray luncheon meet with viruses to kill listeria
3. Crop theft (food shortages coming?)
4. Theft of copper (disrupts power, hmm, whats up with that? More and more power outages due to this? I can see the headlines now.)
5. National animal Identification to supposedly detect mad cow disease (to me it is to keep us from raising our own chickens etc. and drive the small farms out of business so the the big AGfarms can take over)
6. Mad DEER disease (to prevent us from trying to bypass buying meat that is injected with who knows what)
7. Preventative medicine seems to be under attack! OH NO, those vitamins are not good for you! (Anything that helps us that is natural takes away profits from the drug companies. Those commercials are unreal! How anyone could take those medicines after they tell you about the side effects is beyond me! Hell, the side effects are worse than what it is supposed to treat you for! Can you say Guinea Pig!!)
8. Economy...well we all know that the numbers that they put out about the unemployment figures are BS. Anyone that looks into this and has half a brain knows that when someones unemployment runs out they fall off the statistics, not to mention the fact that given all the companies that are closing or moving overseas, the H1B visas and illegals taking jobs, well, what can I say. The unemployment numbers are BS! 4% my Aunt Fannie!
9. Changing the bankruptcy laws..oh that was a smooth move! Now, if you know that you are going to do this and go out and charge up your credit cards, than you get what you deserve. However, refer to #8. American citizens are losing jobs by the thousands, so what does the Fed do! Make it even HARDER for them to file bankruptcy (and may I add a LOT of people do NOT want to do this, it is a last resort!)
10. OHHHHHHH, to ad insult to injury, after they change the bankrupty law, THEN the banks are allowed to raise the minimum credit card payment to DOUBLE! Gee, I wonder how many people THAT put over the edge!
11. THEN!!! OH refinance your house, take out your equity to pay off those credit cards that payments have just doubled on! Now we are facing the housing bubble busting and people losing there homes because out of desperation they refinanced or bought houses with adjustable rate mortgages.
12. Education! Oh lets not forget that the "No Child Left Behind is a joke! All it does is lower the standards so the illegals can pass. Nevermind the fact that OUR kids education is suffering. The Federal government has a stranglehold on our schools! If they don't teach what they want, they will yank federal funding. Can you say BLACKMAIL!

Sorry, but the list goes on and on. When are people going to wake UP! Is it just me or does anyone else see things connecting? I really want to know!

We have chickens in Miami as well. In some areas you see chickens and roosters wandering across the street. I am surprised that people don't have them on their belcony in my condo complex yet as its full of people my neighbor and I think are illegal.