Practicing proper kitchen hygiene is one of the best ways to prevent food poisoning from chicken. For example, a person should freeze or properly store chicken in the refrigerator before cooking. When cooking, a person should wash his hands before and after touching the raw bird. It is also advisable to use different storage and utensils for handling raw chicken and cooked chicken. Poultry should also be cooked thoroughly before eating, and the leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator as soon as possible.
A big part of preventing food poisoning from chicken is proper storage. When storing poultry in the refrigerator, it is best to keep the container on the bottom shelf of a 40°F (about 4°C) or colder refrigerator. This can not only help prevent cross-contamination with other foods, but it can also help keep chicken out of the “danger zone,” the temperature range in which harmful bacteria can quickly grow, which is between 40°F and 140°F (4°C and 60°C). To prevent food poisoning from chicken when thawing a frozen bird, a person should put the chicken in the refrigerator overnight or submerge it in cold water rather than leaving it out on the counter.
Another method to help prevent food poisoning from chicken is to make sure the person preparing it is practicing proper hygiene. A person should wash his hands in hot water before touching the chicken in order to help prevent germs on hands from contaminating the poultry. Additionally, a person should wash his hands after touching the raw meat. The tools, cutting boards, and platters that were used for handling raw chicken or that have raw chicken juice on them should not be used to handle any other foods and should be washed as soon as possible. It is also important to sanitize the cooking area after handling raw chicken.
Chicken should be cooked to a temperature of at least 165°F (about 73°C) in order to kill bacteria and prevent food poisoning from chicken. Leftovers should be refrigerated as soon as possible — within one to two hours, but sooner if possible. When reheating, a person should be certain to heat the chicken thoroughly in order to kill any bacteria that may have grown on the chicken while in the fridge. If the food smells strange, tastes strange, or has mold or fungus growing on it, it should be discarded. Diners at a restaurant should send back improperly cooked poultry to the kitchen, not eat it.
