9. Chicken
Mishandled or undercooked poultry, including chicken, is one of the most common causes of food poisoning. Many people know that eating undercooked chicken is dangerous, but many don’t know that you also need to be mindful about how to store it. For example, cross contamination is one of the main causes of poultry-related food poisoning, so you never want to store your raw chicken next to your beef or ready-to-eat foods.
If you’re cooking frozen chicken, always ensure that it’s completely thawed before cooking to ensure that the center of the chicken reaches a safe internal temperature, thus killing the harmful bacteria. Doing otherwise may result in a terrible case of food poisoning. You want to be especially careful about thawing if you’re cooking an entire bird, and like with everything else, make sure that it hasn’t gone past its expiration date.
