Rinse the Turkey? Not So Fast (Published 2004) (2024)

HERE is one less kitchen task to do this Thanksgiving, as unappealing as it may sound. Don't wash the turkey.

The federal government's proposed 2005 dietary guidelines advise cooks not to rinse poultry. The turkey should go straight from bag to pan to avoid spreading potentially deadly bacteria like salmonella or campylobacter all over the kitchen.

"The risk of cross-contamination through washing poultry is far greater than shoving it in the oven without washing it, which makes the risk almost zero," said Fergus Clydesdale, who runs the food science department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Mr. Clydesdale was on the Agriculture Department's Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which ended work this fall and whose guidelines are expected to be adopted early next year.

According to the guidelines, which are revised every five years, rinsing is one of the most common ways bacteria contaminate food. "It's pretty simple and logical," said Lydia Medeiros, an assistant professor of nutrition at Ohio State University. "When you wash the poultry, you have to think of where that bacteria is going. The water splashes on the counter and goes into the sink and gets into the crevices around the drain. You're actually setting up colonies of pathogens."

Not washing the Thanksgiving turkey may be a radical change in protocol for many home cooks. But it is not the first time government safety recommendations have bumped up against the opinion of cooks, particularly Thanksgiving cooks.

Experts at the Department of Agriculture have long recommended forgoing the flavor a roasting bird can lend to stuffing, suggesting that the side dish instead be cooked in a separate pan. The concern is that the core of the turkey, when stuffed, might not reach a pathogen-killing 165 degrees.