Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 27 november 2019
Stop! Washing your Thanksgiving turkey could spread germs

By CANDICE CHOI it's not washed, especially
AP Food & Health Writer when birds are removed
NEW YORK (AP) — Go from packaging. It's why
ahead and rinse your washing and sanitizing
cranberries, potatoes and hands, utensils and surfaces
green beans. But food ex- are even more important.
perts say don't — repeat The USDA-funded study un-
don't — wash the turkey derscores that point.
before popping it in the Researchers sprayed raw
oven on Thanksgiving Day. chicken with a harm-
They say that could spread less strain of E. coli and
the germs lurking on your watched volunteer cooks
turkey in the kitchen sink or at test kitchens. Among
nearby food. But it's been those who washed their
a challenge trying to con- raw chicken, about a
vince cooks to stop rinsing quarter ended up spread-
off raw poultry. ing the bacteria to their
"If your mother did it and lettuce. But even some of
your grandmother did it, those who did not rinse the
and suddenly the (govern- chicken got germs on the
ment) says not to wash your lettuce. There are other op-
turkey, you may take some portunities for germs to sur-
time to adjust," said Drusilla vive and thrive on turkeys:
Banks, who teaches food thawing and cooking.
sanitation for the University For thawing, experts say
of Illinois Extension. This Nov. 2, 2009, file photo shows a Thanksgiving turkey in Concord, N.H. frozen birds shouldn't be
Germs that can make peo- Associated Press left out on counters since
ple sick are common in the germs can start multiply-
guts of healthy poultry and official at the U.S. Depart- just feels good to wash it," poultry goes back at least ing on the outer parts that
are legally allowed to be ment of Agriculture. said one. Another said: "My decades when people re- defrost first. They instead
on raw turkey and chicken. The do-not-wash raw poul- grandmother taught me lied more on visual cues to recommend thawing in
The assumption is that no- try advice from the USDA is that. She just said to wash spot problems with poul- fridges, cold water or in
body eats their poultry rare, relatively new and perhaps all your food because try. TV chef Julia Child was microwaves. You can also
and that thorough cooking hasn't caught on because it there's no telling where it's among those who said cook a frozen turkey, but it
will kill the bacteria. goes against the ingrained been before it got in the washing chicken was "just will take a lot longer.
So it's possible that two belief that washing makes pack." the safer thing to do" be- And to ensure a bird is thor-
common causes of food things clean, said Banks. Benjamin Chapman, a fore experts began advis- oughly cooked, they say
poisoning — salmonella Participants in a food safe- study author and food ing against it. to use a thermometer to
and campylobacter — are ty study offered their own safety expert at North Car- But food prep is a juggling check that the deepest
on the turkey, said Mindy rationale: "If it's still slimy — olina State University, said act, and germs from poul- and thickest parts of it have
Brashears, a food safety I'm not sure what that is. It the instinct to wash raw try can be spread even if reached 165 degrees.q

Agency agrees to designate

habitat for threatened ice seals

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) dangered Species Act a said in a statement. "They
— A federal agency will year after a listing. Federal need habitat protections
decide by September how agencies that authorize now, and they need us to
much ocean and coast in activities such as oil drill- quickly address climate
northern Alaska will be des- ing within critical habitat change."
ignated as critical habitat must consult with wildlife Commerce Department
for two ice seal species. managers to determine if spokeswomen in Alaska
The Center for Biological threatened species will be did not immediately re-
Diversity announced Mon- affected. spond Monday afternoon
This Sept. 5, 2006, file photo, provided by the National Oceanic day it had reached an The Center for Biological to requests for comment.
and Atmospheric Administration shows a bearded seal in Kot- agreement with the Com- Diversity sued in June be- Ringed and bearded seals
zebue, Alaska. merce Department for the cause no critical habitat were listed as threatened in
Associated Press Trump administration to is- has been designated. Ice 2012 because of projected
sue a critical habitat rule seal habitat is rapidly melt- sea ice loss even though
for ringed and bearded ing, said Emily Jeffers, an their numbers have not fall-
seals. attorney for the Center for en. Animals with federally
Ringed and bearded seals Biological Diversity, and it protected critical habitat
use sea ice in the Bering, should not have taken a are more than twice as like-
Chukchi and Beaufort seas. lawsuit for officials to follow ly to be recovering as spe-
Both seals are listed as the law. cies without it, Jeffers said.
threatened. "Ringed and bearded seals A critical habitat designa-
Designation of critical need our help to survive an tion does not affect sub-
habitat for threatened spe- Arctic that's heating up at sistence hunting by Alaska
cies is required by the En- twice the global rate," she Natives.q