The Salmonella bacterium occurs quite naturally and has always been here. It can exist in the intestines of wild animals, birds, and domestic animals. In most cases, the bacteria are present without causing their hosts to become ill. They can also be found in water, earth, and air and is spread by mice, rats, and insects (and as a consequence of poor hygienic conditions).
There are more than 2200 types of Salmonella bacteria, but particularly two different types cause disease in humans: Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella enteritidis. They primarily exist in poultry (e.g. chickens and laying hens) and this is the way the infection reaches humans.
In most cases, you have to consume more than 100,000 bacteria in order to get ill. However, Salmonella bacteria multiply very quickly if they are being stored at temperatures between 10 and 50 degrees Celsius (50 and 122 degrees Fahrenheit): In 8 hours, one salmonella bacterium can become 16 million bacteria! Salmonella bacteria can survive in deep-frozen food, but they cannot survive temperatures above 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit).
Good advice on storing poultry:
- Keep the raw chicken in the refrigerator at maximum 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) until you are ready to cook it.
- Avoid having your frozen chicken drip on other foodstuffs while defrosting.
- Keep your raw chicken away from any prepared chicken and other foodstuffs.
- Thoroughly roast or boil the chicken until the meat juice is entirely clear. You could also use a roast meat thermometer to check if the temperature is above 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit).
- If your chicken dish is not eaten right away, you should store it in the refrigerator.
- When you re-heat a chicken dish, you should make sure that it is steeming hot all the way into the centre.
- Scald your chopping board and your knife with boiling water after having cut out the chicken.
- Boil your dishcloths and change dishcloths every day.
