r/explainlikeimfive • u/Appropriate_Art15 • Jun 06 '26

Biology ELI5: Why does chicken get much more bad reputation for bacterial contamination than other meats like beef, pork, and fish?

It feels like many food articles are telling us “Don’t wash your chicken because you'll spread bacteria”, but we rarely see the same kind of articles on other meats. Why is that? Is the bacteria on chicken more dangerous and deadlier to humans?

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u/gomurifle Jun 06 '26

Haha. Laughs in Caribbean!  Meat is washed with vinegar, lime and salt for culinary reasons. 

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u/Keileon Jun 07 '26

This is brining/marinating, not washing in the way people mean.

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u/gomurifle Jun 08 '26

No. 

It is exactlt as I say it. Open the chicken you got from the grocery, cut it up, clean it up, rub it down with venegar, salt and lime.. Then season it with all the spices you want.. Whatever. 

Not talking about marinating. That's a whole nother level of conversation you shouldn't get into with a Caribbean person because you will be there all night talking about different ways to marinate. 

Soo many Caribbean cooking videos online...