In her recent post Brody shares some solid guidelines for keeping food-borne illnesses at bay. However, I disagree with one of her suggestions. Brody writes “some suggest that poultry and meats not be rinsed lest they contaminate the sink”. I too used to rinse all meats and fish before cooking. ‘Some say’ implies that my great aunt Jane says this. In fact the USDA recommends not rinsing poultry and other meats because of cross contamination. The USDA explains that many of these harmful bacteria cannot simply be washed off, and those that can often get washed off onto other items in the sink area. Cooking kills the bacteria. By washing these meats you only increase the risk.
Comments by kreniske