Stop washing raw chicken, experts warn

Preventing "cross-contamination" can help safe lives after it emerged washing raw chicken could expose cooks and diners to life-threatening bacteria.

Professional cook Marcus Bean walked Good Morning Britain through the steps of properly caring for uncooked chicken and how best to avoid food poisoning.

Storing chicken in a fridge running below 5C, separate chopping boards for raw and cooked foods, using tongs to transfer the meat and having a bowl of clean, hot water to hand can all help prevent cross-contamination.

Marcus added: "People look at the chicken and they might see a little bit of juice or a touch of dirt and the natural thing is to wash it under water. But all you're doing is just spreading bacteria...By cooking chicken you kill bacteria - you don't need to rinse it."

People who wash raw chicken as part of their food preparation risk spreading a dangerous bacteria, health experts have warned.

Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson are among the celebrity chefs who have recipes that advise washing raw chicken before patting it dry and the Food Standards Agency said that more than two-fifths of cooks say that they wash chicken before cooking it.

Doing so can spread the potentially dangerous Campylobacter bacteria - which is behind the majority of food poisoning cases - around the kitchen through the splashing of water droplets, the health agency said.

"Campylobacter is a serious issue," said FSA chief executive Catherine Brown. "Not only can it cause severe illness and death, but it costs the economy hundreds of millions of pounds a year as a result of sickness absence and the burden on the NHS.

Around 280,000 Britons are affected by food poisoning every year, with four out of every five cases caused by contaminated chicken.