A recent peer reviewed paper concluded that “the evidence for human health risks directly attributable to agricultural antibiotics runs the gamut from speculative to scant [1].” Regardless of this, proper care and handling of food should always be followed to make sure that bacteria and foodborne illness are kept at bay. When chicken is cooked properly, any bacteria, resistant or otherwise, are killed. Everyone involved in the food chain, from the primary producer to the consumer, has a role to play in ensuring our food is safe to eat. The food industry and governments work together to deliver food that is safe to consumers. The important, and sometimes forgotten, role of the consumer is to maintain the safety of that food by using safe food handling practices from the point of purchase.

Chicken Farmers of Canada, and other government and industry partners, together founded the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education in 1997 to create a single organization, funded by all partners, to address the ongoing need to inform consumers about safe food handling practices. The goal is to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness in Canada from all food sources, be they meat or vegetable, in order to protect Canadian consumers. The Partnership uses four key messages to educate consumers and help create safer eating environments at home:

Clean: Wash hands and surfaces often

Separate: Don’t cross-contaminate

Cook: Cook to proper temperatures

Chill: Refrigerate promptly

For more on how you can safely prepare chicken at home, click here.

For more information on the Partnership, click here.¹ Chang et al., 2014. Antibiotics in agriculture and the risk to human health: how worried should we be? Evolutionary Applications, 8(3): 240-247.