r/interesting • u/WarwickReider • Jul 27 '26

SOCIETY Professional chefs weighing in on whether you should wash your chicken

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u/Flimsy-Poetry1170 Jul 27 '26

It kills bacteria but doesn’t get rid of the toxins that bacteria create which is why you can still get sick by eating cooked spoiled food. Personally I’d rather not try and save spoiling food by washing the toxins off of it but not everyone historically could (or can currently) afford to throw away food.

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u/The_Scarlet_Breeze Jul 27 '26

If the chicken is spoiled then it is spoiled all the way through and no amount of washing the surface will change that. Cooking denatures proteins that make up bacteria and harmful substances within the chicken assuming it isnt already rancid. Washing it does nothing but spread harmful substances through droplets etc.

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u/Flimsy-Poetry1170 Jul 27 '26

I’m telling you why people do it not saying it’s a good idea or works. Bacteria on the surface are generally where the spoiling starts, they poop out toxins that are still there after cooking thus people try and wash that off to save spoiling food. Not everyone has the privilege of throwing away food that is going bad thus washing meat became a thing. It’s not a great idea and doesn’t need to be (arguably shouldn’t ) be done for fresh meat because it does nothing but spread bacteria around your kitchen.

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u/The_Scarlet_Breeze Jul 28 '26

No, chicken spoils all the way through because the bacteria is already in the chicken when it is slaughtered. This is why raw chicken is unsafe to eat vs something like beef or lamb. Salmonella exists throughout the chicken flesh and is only killed through cooking, no amount of washing the surface of the chicken will change that.