Do you ever wonder how safe it is to eat chicken as it approaches the sell-by date the grocer stamped on the package?
Photo Schering-Plough
Cook’s Illustrated, that ad-free monthly guide to all things culinary (put out by Christopher Kimball and his army of food scientists) has come up with an answer.
They reported on their America’s Test Kitchen website that 20 years of improvements in quality-control by the poultry industry has cut the risk of food-borne pathogens like salmonella and extended the shelf life of the refrigerated birds.
They quote Brian Sheldon, professor in the department of poultry science at North Carolina State University who explains that poultry is now processed with more water and antimicrobial agents, which wash away more contaminants and kill micro-organisms.
The CI article explains that rather than packing the birds on ice, many processors now chill the poultry to the point that a thin crust of ice forms on their surface, a process that also extends shelf life.
Some suppliers say their birds have a shelf life of 12 or 14 days after processing, which, the website says, includes shipping time, storage at the retail facility, and home refrigeration.
The question remains: does the sell-by date effect the flavor of the bird?
The cooks said they bought three packages of store-brand chicken with different sell-by dates: one day out, four days out, and seven days out.
After pan-roasting the birds, and sampling the results, Cook’s Illustrated ruled there was not difference in taste.
“Don’t be afraid to pick up a package with a soon-to-expire sell-by date,” the article says.
Others, including me, say go for the freshest and, as the USDA suggests, cook the birds a soon as possible.
While talking to a friend this morning at the federal Ag department about the freshness and safety of poultry, she mentioned that animal-heath scientists have developed, and are selling vaccines which, they claim, can eliminate salmonella from both eggs and poultry.
Salmonella will easily ruin your day and, in some cases, your life, she told me, but added that some food safety activists question the wisdom of adding this, or any other disease preventative, to the food chain.
