What is up with washing chicken?

Ok, this has bothered me for a while. I keep seeing recipes that tell people to "wash the chicken first" on the list of steps. My first question is... why? Why should I "wash my chicken" and why does it help? I personally have never washed chicken for one reason: washing chicken contaminates your sink. You know how you have to wash veggies, fruits, pots and pans, and many other things in the kitchen sink? Well, if you washed chicken in it, cross contamination can happen. Yuck! Another thing to mention... it doesn't clean your chicken. Whatever germs are on your chicken will be either killed when cooked or they can't be just rinsed off. Save yourself the hassle and just don't do it!


I have a few articles to share and some quotes from them that I think prove my point.

• "Don't Wash Your Chicken Before You Cook It and 9 Other Surprising Tips"

"Rinsing your chicken is an ideal way to spew nasty pathogens all over your sink and the surrounding area. Rinsing never did get rid of pathogens anyway."

• "Washing chicken increases food poisoning risk"

" An FSA spokeswoman said: ''Washing raw poultry is a common kitchen mistake, and it simply isn't necessary. "

"chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said: ''It shouldn't be up to consumers to clean up problems made earlier in the food chain, but if you're planning on cooking a whole chicken be aware that if it's infected washing it actually increases the risk of food poisoning.

'Stay safe by cutting out the cleaning and cooking it through thoroughly.' "

Food Safety and Inspection Services says on their website (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/chicken_from_farm_to_table/index.asp#10) :

"Rinsing or Soaking Chicken
Washing raw poultry before cooking it is not recommended. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils, and surfaces. This is called cross-contamination. Rinsing or soaking chicken does not destroy bacteria. Any bacteria that might be present on fresh chicken are destroyed only by cooking."

My advice... stop washing that chicken! Cook it to a proper temperature and you will be fine. I mean, do you really want chicken juice spewed a 3 foot radius from your kitchen sink? No? Me neither... 

Have you ever wondered...?

I used to wonder about food. Where did it come from? How many little farms did it take to make our food? When I watched the documentary Food Inc. I was shocked. If you haven't watched it, you really should. You can find it online, but it online, or even buy it from a store like Target. I really need to invest in my own copy of it. It isn't that I love the documentary (because it kind of scares me), but I know that more people need to see the film! Many of us have no idea where our food came from or what seeds/pesticides/herbicides/chemicals were used. Food Inc. is a documentary that exposes the food system for what it is. It has multiple interviews and discusses who really owns our food system. There is no better time than today to be informed! Go and watch it!

If you watch the movie and then want to know more, there is another documentary called The World According to Monsanto. If you click, you will be taken to the website to watch the documentary. This documentary is a fascinating movie to watch after Food Inc. Be an informed consumer and know more about your food than what it says on the label and fancy packaging. Go and watch! :)

Health and Food label lies

Americans seem to be obsessed with health. That may be a generalization, but the media has seemed to pick up on it quite well. There's exactly how many diets, diet pills, and slimming things now? I understand that health is important, but we become healthier through better life decisions and support from others who also need to be healthier. In fact, diets have been proven to work for while you are on them, but the weight returns once you stop the diet. Another diet problem is that you don't always get all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients you really should. For my own health, I have majorly increased my fruit and vegetable intake and reduced foods that I don't really need to eat (like desserts, excess snacks, etc.) I don't try to label foods as bad or good, but I do try to avoid prepackaged foods as much as possible. There are many problems with prepackaged foods that I could ramble on about for hours, but one thing to consider is the labeling.


In this article, Are You Falling for These Food Label Lies?, a few of the common misconceptions about certain label terms are looked into. Phrases like "trans fat free, all natural, and made with real fruit" are a few of the 10 phrases discussed. It amazes me what we will believe. This is why I have this blog, to let the readers know some info that they might not have known before. Everyone should know this information in order to make guided decisions about the food they are eating! We have walked so far from the farm that we are left with a bit of a mess. Our food system needs help, and it is the little decisions that can slowly change everything. Your money buying certain items is your "vote" for what type of food you want in the future. Less processed = healthier for your body. If you see one of these phrases, be sure to be wary!

Salt

I never knew that there were so many types of salt! I know that there is sea salt, table salt, seasoning salt,  and garlic salt, but I haven't ever explored beyond that realm. It turns out that there's many kinds of salt! If you are curious, this article goes over different types of salt and what you can use them for.

The salts identified are:

• table salt
• kosher salt
• fleur de sel
• sel gris
• pink salt
• black salt
• flavored salts
• smoked salts

Smoked salt? I didn't even know you could do that! I just thought it was interesting that there's such a wide range of salts and uses for it. Who would have known that salt could be used in so many ways?

There's also a video that goes along with the article. 

Please feel free to watch. Hope you all are enjoying the time of the year! :) Till next time!

Talking about Fat

I know this is a wee bit late, but I finally have the time to sit down and type this blog up. Today's topic is Fat. First all, here is a disclaimer for everyone reading this, I am not an expert in the topic and do not claim to be. I just want to inform people so that they will start to look at what they are eating a little more. With that said, let's move into the topic.

I believe that fat has become the target of some sort of fat crusade. It seems that everyone wants to avoid fat and there is a multitude of low fat products available. However, the low fat products aren't always as great as they seem. Have you ever taken a full fat product and compared it to a low fat version? Well, the full fat version tends to have less ingredients than the low fat versions. Next time you are at the store, do a comparison and see what I mean. Another weird thing is that while a product may be low fat, it also tends to have elevated sodium, chemicals, or something else. Honestly, why would we want to ingest more chemicals? I have compiled some articles that I think are worth a read.

• This first article "In defense of fat: Dissolving common misconceptions" the author discusses the different types of fat and which ones you should keep in your diet.

• In this next article "Difference between low-fat and full fat foods" the differences between full fat and low-fat foods are discussed. Definitely something to look at if you want more details than what I was able to provide. 

The next three articles deal with dairy foods, but they are great to look at to understand a bit about full fat foods.

• "The health benefits of eating full-fat cheese" discusses some worries and benefits of eating full fat cheese (as you might have guessed from the title, haha).
• "Milk… full fat or low fat?" discusses something beyond the fat content and has a study to back up the claims it makes.
• "Yogurt" discusses all that you could ever want to know about yogurt, including the nutrients in low-fat yogurt. I didn't read the entire article, but skimming through the topics was really interesting because it varied so much. Honestly everything you could ever want to know about yogurt, including some ways to eat it! 

So, overall I am not against low-fat foods, because I grew up on many low fat foods. However, I am wary of them now, especially since the ingredients change so much between the low fat and the full fat foods. I am not trying to stab either side, just trying to raise the awareness of how different low-fat and full fat foods are.

I ask you to be aware of these differences, and to take it however you want. Just make sure to educate yourself and make your own decision on whether you want to keep eating full fat foods or low-fat.