Washington – A new study has revealed that kosher chickens contain more anti-biotic resistant E. coli bacteria than chickens produced through other methods, causing researchers to recommend that a closer look needs to be taken at the production of chicken in the United States—especially kosher.
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THEPOULTRYSITE.com (http://bit.ly/18Mi6th) reports that the study, which included researchers from four institutions, including Northern Arizona University (NAU), the Horace Mann Bronx Campus, Translational Genomics Research Institute of Flagstaff, and George Washington University studied chicken produced through various methods, most notably kosher, organic, “raised without antibiotics” (RWA), and conventional.
Researchers concluded that, for reasons not immediately apparent, kosher chickens consistently carried more E. coli bacteria than chickens produced by any other method, while levels in organic chickens were equal to those found in conventional chickens.
According to the study, only RWA chickens showed a reduced level of E. coli.
The study said, ““We examined the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli on raw chicken marketed as conventional, organic, kosher and RWA. From April to June 2012, we purchased 213 samples of raw chicken from 15 locations in the New York City metropolitan area.”
“Although the organic and RWA labels restrict the use of antibiotics, the frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli tended to be only slightly lower for RWA, and organic chicken was statistically indistinguishable from conventional products that have no restrictions,” the study said.
In finding that kosher chickens consistently had the highest E. coli levels—almost twice the levels found in conventional chickens—the study said it, “belies the historic roots of kosher as a means to ensure food safety.”
“Organic, RWA, and kosher food products supply a growing market niche,” the report said. “Consumers perceive that they offer health benefits and are willing to pay a premium for them. The actual health benefits of organic foods are largely anecdotal. Little is known about the frequency of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms on kosher products.”
This is not a reason for anyone to go out and buy treife chickens under some misguided notion of “pikuach nefesh” (especially for vulnerable populations who have lower resistance to such contamination) but it is still a wakeup call for the kosher poultry farms and schlachthoises to “clean up their act” and reduce their reliance on antibiotics.
That is why they are more expensive – you are getting more for your money
This whole thing makes no sense. Kosher chicken are raised just the way other chickens are. If take a closer look at the study, you will realize its total lack of credibility. Jack Millman the primary author of this study was out on mission to discredit kosher as reported in azdailysun.com, and as obvious from the declaration in the study’s abstract. Yet he himself collected the samples, stored it in his mother’s refrigerator, then provides conflicting accounts about how he shipped it to the lab: in original package or ziplock bags… So everything follows the unproven credit of a biased person.
Btw, VIN should be more sensitive and attached more suitable pictures to such stories. Referencing Washington in the heading has also no basis other than to make it look more credible.
must be the factories/slaughterhouses what else can it be
So they promised on cleaner chickens and instead we got infected with bacteria chicken.
That’s what we pay a premium for? For bogus supervision.
Thank you to the OU and all the Chassidishe Rabonim for your non-existent standards.
Very simple solution, we’ll get the health Dept. to ban kosher chicken like Metzitzah B’peh.
Hey Bloomberg! Don’t fall asleep here. You’ve got another chance here to challenge us before you leave. Don’t miss the opportunity.
I find this suspect and would need to know who is behind this to see what their agenda is. Just about everyone in the industry, from restaurateurs to hotel chefs to health inspectors from all departments will tell you the exact opposite of what was claimed here.
To me this seems like an attack on kosher, which wouldn’t surprise me in the very least. I believe the automatic refutation to this hogwash is to look at the facts, just the facts, and you see that the outbreaks of e-book e-coli have NOT come from kosher chickens, rather they DO come from the non kosher and organic products in a much higher frequency. If someone Chas V’Sholom gets sick from kosher chicken, it was due to handling which would happen from non kosher as well.
Did they compare kosher chickens yo the average in NYS ( where most kosher chickens come from)?
Another kosher scandal.
If the chicken is fully cooked and you wash your hands with soap after touching the raw chicken when you cook it, the e coli should not pass from the chicken to the person.
makes no sense.
randomly dozens of crates of live chickens from the many hundreds brought to market, are purchased by a chicken distributer and then shected and processed..
The chickens all start out the same . What happenned to the kosher ones during their journey to the supermarket?
What happened to our credo as the commercial said ” we answer to a higher to a higher authority” ??
The two people in the study who bought the chickens are from the Horace Mann school in the Bronx. Who are they? Are they high school students? Does this study have any reliability at all?
there is something wrong with the gist of this article
in the past it has been proven that “KOSHER” chickens have LESS bacteria because they are soaked in salt….
i even remember that the non-kosher chicken industry implemented a quick salt brine spray becuase it was proven that KOSHER chickens have LESS bacteira and it was atributed to the salting
but that was like 5 years ago
A chicken doesn’t become kosher until it’s dead. Whole story is off base and no wonder they can’t figure out the reason- duh, you’re looking for something imaginary.
If the charge is true, and I say if, it may be because of over-loading the birds with antibiotics until the bacteria become resistant. People also can take too many antibiotics with the same bad effect.