4.7 Article

Chickensplash! Exploring the health concerns of washing raw chicken

Journal

PHYSICS OF FLUIDS
Volume 34, Issue 3, Pages -

Publisher

AIP Publishing
DOI: 10.1063/5.0083979

Keywords

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Funding

  1. National Science Foundation [1813654, DMR-1455247]
  2. Army Research Office [W911NF-19-1-0288]
  3. National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health through Montana INBRE [P20GM103474]
  4. Montana State Undergraduate Scholars Program
  5. Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
  6. Division Of Mathematical Sciences [1813654] Funding Source: National Science Foundation

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The FDA recommends against washing raw chicken due to the risk of pathogen transfer through splashed water droplets. However, research confirms that bacteria can indeed be transferred from the surface of raw chicken through splashing. Other factors such as faucet height, flow type, and surface stiffness also affect splashing height and distance.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends against washing raw chicken due to the risk of transferring dangerous food-borne pathogens through splashed drops of water. Many cooks continue to wash raw chicken despite this warning, however, and there is a lack of scientific research assessing the extent of microbial transmission in splashed droplets. Here, we use large agar plates to confirm that bacteria can be transferred from the surface of raw chicken through splashing. We also identify and create a phylogenetic tree of the bacteria present on the chicken and the bacteria transferred during splashing. While no food-borne pathogens were identified, we note that organisms in the same genera as pathogens were transferred from the chicken surface through these droplets. Additionally, we show that faucet height, flow type, and surface stiffness play a role in splash height and distance. Using high-speed imaging to explore splashing causes, we find that increasing faucet height leads to a flow instability that can increase splashing. Furthermore, splashing from soft materials such as chicken can create a divot in the surface, leading to splashing under flow conditions that would not splash on a curved, hard surface. Thus, we conclude that washing raw chicken does risk pathogen transfer and cross-contamination through droplet ejection, and that changing washing conditions can increase or decrease the risk of splashing. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

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