Keep your chicken bird flu free!

Are you a chicken eater?

Are you worried about having to forgo that favourite dish of yours at the dinner table? Well, do not let the bird flu scare get you. Follow these simple steps to keep your chicken bird flu free and continue to enjoy the chicken dish of your choice.

• Heat from cooking poultry and eggs will kill H5N1 virus, the deadly strain that causes bird flu in fowls. Cook poultry evenly ( no pink parts please), to a minimum temperature of 80 degree celsius. If you are cooking in oven, ensure that the oven heat should be at least 325 degrees F.



• Following safe food handling practices such as washing hands, utensils and surfaces in hot soapy water will get rid of food pathogens from flu viruses to salmonella and E. Coli.
  
• Wash hands before and after handling food. Prevent cross-contamination by keeping raw meat, poultry, fish and their juices away from other foods.
  
• After cutting raw meats, wash hands, cutting board, knife and counter tops with hot, soapy water.
  
• It is also safe to sanitise cutting boards with a spoonful of chlorine bleach or white vinegar in water followed by a through rinse before and after use.