Is eating salted chicken contaminated with bacteria?

Many people say that salted chicken with unknown ingredients and sealed labels in plastic bags is susceptible to bacterial contamination and poisoning. Is this true? (Son, 38 years old, Hanoi).

Reply:

According to the Vietnamese Nutritional Composition Table , 100 grams of chicken meat contains 199 calories, 20.3 grams of protein, 4.3 grams of fat and many vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to health. Chicken meat is rich in phosphorus, which helps support bone and tooth development, making it strong and healthy, suitable for people who want to lose weight. This is a nutritious and popular dish in Vietnamese family meals.

Salted chicken is chicken cooked not by steam, nor by boiling or baking, but by the heat of salt grains. Salted chicken meat is rich in flavor, not too salty, and has an eye-catching color.

However, the market is flooded with unlabeled, unsourced salted chicken, so its reliability is low. Consumers do not know the ingredients, so they are even more worried. This is a ready-to-eat dish that does not require processing, so there is a risk of bacterial contamination and poisoning if the meat is not hygienic. Children or people with weakened immune systems are susceptible to diarrhea and stomachaches when eating chicken of unknown origin.

To ensure safety, you should choose to buy products with labels or know the origin and expiry date of the product. After peeling, eat immediately, do not mix with raw meat. The longer the time, the higher the risk of bacterial contamination. Production facilities should comply with food hygiene and safety conditions.

You should wash your hands thoroughly when preparing and eating to avoid infection. If you have symptoms of headache, dizziness, abdominal cramps, vomiting, these are signs of food poisoning. Some severe cases may have diarrhea, blood in the stool, high fever and need to go to the hospital for examination.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh
Institute of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology

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