Undercooked chicken nuggets a health hazard
B.C. medical researchers have found a link between several brands of raw frozen chicken nuggets and salmonella.
A new study shows many consumers assume the frozen, breaded nuggets and strips are pre-cooked when in fact, they're raw.
Epidemiologist Laura MacDougall at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control says that assumption leads families and children to just warm the raw chicken in the microwave.
"It's golden brown in colour and often breaded. And it doesn't particularly look raw, " she says.
"And even when you cut it open, it might be a little bit mushy inside, but doesn't give you any of the visual cues that you're dealing with a raw piece of chicken."
The study by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control published in the Journal of Food Protection found that a third of people surveyed thought the frozen chicken nuggets were pre-cooked and as a result, used microwaves to warm them up.
As a result of these findings, labelling requirements for raw products with a cooked appearance are being amended.
MacDougall says the type of salmonella found in several brands of frozen chicken nuggets is virulent. And she says 25 per cent of the cases of salmonella were in children between the ages of one and four.
In the meantime, MacDougall advises consumers to read cooking instructions carefully, to use a conventional oven to cook the product thoroughly and to wash hands properly after handling them.