If you're laboring over a package of fresh chicken, wondering if you should wash it or not, the science is pretty clear. While raw chicken can cause food-borne illness, particularly cold E coli if consumed without cooking thoroughly, washing chicken before cooking won't make it any safer. The USDA suggests that the opposite is true and that washing your chicken could increase the risk of foodborne illness via cross-contamination.
Always wash when preparing chicken, but not the chicken itself
Washing your hands before and after handling chicken is far more important than washing the chicken itself.
Just because washing chicken before cooking isn't helpful doesn't mean there's no washing to be done when handling and preparing raw poultry. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly both before and after touching raw chicken. Cross-contamination often happens while preparing food, but once that meat hits the pan, grill, oven or air fryer basket and it is cooked to a safe temperature of 160 degrees F for chicken, any harmful bacteria is usually killed.
Should you ever wash chicken before cooking?
Spoiled chicken can't be saved by washing it. If you notice a foul smell or discoloration, chuck it and buy some fresh chicken.
The only time you might consider rinsing chicken before cooking is if there is a foreign substance on it like packaging or some other food adjacent to the chicken in your fridge or grocery bag. Otherwise, chicken that's fresh and not spoiled does not need to be washed before cooking. If there is a foul smell or discoloration, the chicken is probably bad and no amount of washing it will help.
Some chicken and poultry have oregano oil or essence infused into it during processing, so be aware that it may cause an odor but it shouldn't smell of rotten organic material, perhaps just a little herbal or earthy.
Why washing raw chicken may actually increase E-Coli risk
While this strain of E. coli has evolved to resist most common antibiotic therapies, the team at UC Boulder has been able to successfully target the bacteria with quantum dots.
When you rinse or scrub chicken you clean it, you are increasing the chances of splashing that bacteria-laden liquid onto the counter or other foods where it can cause illness if consumed. Cooking is the only way to ensure bacteria are killed so washing chicken will only waste your time, energy and hot water.
More chicken safety tips
The door is the warmest part of your fridge. Avoid storing meats or any food that might spoil quickly there.
If you're planning to marinate your chicken before cooking, prepare it in a bowl in the sink and wash the area thoroughly afterward. Also, always keep the chicken in the fridge, but away from other foods, particularly those that aren't going to be cooked like salad greens and deli meat.
Designate a particular drawer in your fridge for raw meat according to our guide to arranging your fridge, so the food stays fresh longer. The back bottom section of the fridge stays cold. It is important to keep your raw chicken at 40 degrees F or below to avoid putting it in the front, top or fridge door where there tends to be more temperature fluctuation.
For more, here's how to safely defrost poultry and other meats and how to arrange your fridge so food stays fresh longer. Here's how long chicken lasts in the fridge.