Drowned US Maitlin interview followed by contaminated chicken

Shrunken Head!

Perhaps the most amusing thing this evening was seeing Emily Maitlis interviewing two experts, on BBC News, seated in pouring rain in front of the White House. As they calmly debated the political finer points, the rain got worse and worse, their jackets visibly drenched - and finally, the broadcast cut out. hopefully no one was electrocuted. All this after Jared Kushner emerged from his hearing in front of the Senate panel investigating Russia links, stating that all of his "actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events" of the campaign. He had apparently come late to a meeting with Donald Trump Junior and some people from Russia where he saw no evil, heard no evil and spoke no evil.

Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox is also in the US looking to explore trade opportunities with the UK - but not negotiating a deal yet, as this is still under EU control. His emphasis was on the fifth largest global economy dealing with the worlds greatest economy. The defining item early on in his visit is the chlorination of chicken in the US, with Liam Fox being challenged to eat it in any form of his choice.

So, why the controversy, other than a provocative name?

One of the big problems with keeping lots of poultry for human consumption is, that there is a real risk of Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria growing in sufficient numbers on chicken meat to cause serious illness. This occurs when uncooked chicken is handled and bacteria are transferred either to other food due to poor kitchen hygiene, or to the mouth via contaminated fingers.

In the US, after the chickens have been slaughtered and eviscerated, the carcasses are sprayed with antimicrobial rinses. The antimicrobials that can be used in the US are chlorine dioxide, acidified sodium chlorite, trisodium phosphate and peroxyacids. Experiments have shown that the treatments consistently reduce levels of Salmonella from 14% to 2% in controlled conditions. Technically, the procedure is safe, as acknowledged even by the European food safety regulator EFSA who found “chemical substances in poultry are unlikely to pose an immediate or acute health risk for consumers." (https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/buying-and-supplying/food-safety/chlorinated-chicken-explained-why-do-the-americans-treat-their-poultry-with-chlorine/555618.article). However, the EU objects in principle to the procedure because it could promote poorer practice in rearing and handling chickens for food, as they are sterilised after slaughter.

In the EU and therefore in the UK, the strategy is to try and reduce the level of contamination from "farm to fork" by good practice throughout the food chain. In the UK, this includes vaccination against Salmonella. The Co-op, for example, is proud to announce that only 2% of British poultry are contaminated with Salmonella, compared with up to 30% in other EU countries (http://www.lovebritishfood.co.uk/british-food-and-drink/chicken-amp-eggs). However, the level of Campylobacter contamination is higher (up to 50% when tested in 2001) and remember the 2015 scandal where E. coli contamination was found in two thirds (75%) of UK chicken in supermarkets.

The reality for us consumers is that, whatever our philosophical food preference and method to reduce contamination, we are likely to encounter Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli contaminated chicken. The best protection is good kitchen hygiene, including the separation of handling areas and surfaces for raw meat from cooked meat and other non-meat food preparation, as well as thoroughly cooking chicken to kill any bacteria.

I traveled to Brampton over lunchtime to visit a client interested in the production of a company video for their website and had a productive chat. Now awaiting their ideas for storylines. in the evening, off to the Stammtisch for conversation and far too much food, including fruit salad and scones with jam and low fat cream. Hats made an appearance, as did fascinators, which were renamed as the more evocative 'Tantalisers'.