Campylobacter | NZ Government

Handling chicken safely

Every summer, there is a rise in cases of foodborne illness and hospitalisations from people getting sick from food.

The most commonly reported illness is campylobacteriosis. This is caused by Campylobacter bacteria. The most common source of Campylobacter from food is raw or undercooked chicken.

To keep your whānau and friends healthy, follow these simple tips:

Don't wash your chicken before preparing it. Water doesn't kill bacteria, so rinsing the chicken will just spread the bacteria to other surfaces. If you want to remove raw chicken juices, just pat the chicken dry with a paper towel instead.
Wash your hands in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds after handling raw chicken – and dry them on a clean towel. This is so any bacteria from the chicken won't spread from your hands to other food.
Keep your raw chicken separate from ready-to-eat and fresh foods, using separate chopping boards, plates, and utensils. Alternatively, wash them properly with hot soapy water before using them for other foods.
Use a different plate for raw and cooked chicken.
Make sure the chicken is fully cooked before serving – the juices should run clear. If you have one, use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken is steaming hot (more than 75°C) all the way through.
If you're cooking chicken on a BBQ, turn the chicken often so it cooks evenly
As with all food, don't leave chicken out in the heat of the day – neither before cooking nor after you've finished eating.

Symptoms of campylobacteriosis

Campylobacteriosis is the disease caused by Campylobacter.

If you get infected, you might get sick within 2 to 5 days, but sometimes it can take up to 10 days.

Symptoms include:

diarrhoea (can be bloody)
fever
headache
muscle aches
abdominal pain
vomiting.

Most people feel ill for 3 to 7 days, but sometimes it can be up to 2 weeks.

Rarely, infection can be followed by chronic (long-term) illnesses like reactive arthritis and Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). With GBS, the body's immune system attacks the nerves.

Symptoms of Campylobacter can last up to 2 weeks and can lead to chronic illnesses.

How you can get sick

The most common and well-known source of Campylobacter from food is poultry meat (like chicken) and offal. People mainly get sick from this when it isn’t cooked well enough. Other food and drink that you can get infected by include:

raw (unpasteurised) milk
raw or under-cooked red meat
raw fruit and vegetables
drinking contaminated water.

You may also get infected through:

contact with faeces and not washing your hands after the toilet
contact with farm animals, pets, birds, or other animals
infected people
infected soil
swimming, and doing activities in contaminated water, or
if the bacteria spreads to objects and surfaces (cross-contamination).

You can get sick by eating raw poultry meat, raw milk, raw red meat, raw fruit and vegetables or drinking contaminated water. You can also get infected through not washing your hands thoroughly before handling food, contact with animals or infected people, infected soil, swimming in contaminated water, or cross-contamination.

Video: Cooking chicken safely at home (1.12)

New Zealand Chef Martin Bosley shares some practical food safety tips when cooking chicken.

Transcript - show/hide

[Chef Martin Bosley smiling with his kitchen in background. Fun, vibrant music in background]

[Title of video ‘Food Safety Tips with Chef Martin Bosley’ appears]

[Subject ‘Chicken’ appears]

Martin gives a head nod to the audience, blue reusable shopping bag on his kitchen counter in front of him. Martin removes a pack of raw chicken thighs from the blue reusable shopping bag.

Martin: Keep raw chicken covered, separate from other food in the bottom shelf in the fridge and this will keep the juices from leaking and dripping onto other foods.

Martin demonstrates by placing the raw chicken pack on a plate and placing it onto the bottom shelf of his refrigerator.

Image of Martin’s sink with the unwrapped pack of raw chicken on the counter next to it.

Martin: PLEASE…don’t wash the chicken before cooking. Washing will splash the germs all around the kitchen.

Martin cuts the chicken legs into thighs and drumsticks.

Martin: Ideally, use separate chopping boards for raw chicken. If you only have one, mark sure you wash it with soap and hot water after you’ve used it.

Martin washes wooden chopping board in sink with detergent.

Martin: Wash your hands with soap and water after handling raw chicken. 20 seconds of lathering and 20 seconds of rinsing.

Martin washes his hands with soap and running water.

Martin: Keep kitchen utensils and surfaces clean after handling raw chicken.

Martin wipes down soapy kitchen counters with paper towels.

Martin cooks chicken thighs and drumsticks in cast iron skillet. The chicken is browned and sizzling in the pan.

Martin: Check to see if the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Now if you have a meat thermometer you can take the temperature at middle of the thickest part of the meat.

The thermometer should read about 75 degrees Celsius.

Martin takes the chicken in the cast iron pan out of the oven and places on the stove. He takes a thigh out of the pan and places onto a clean, wooden chopping board.

He grabs a thermometer and shows the audience. He places it back onto the counter and then cuts into the chicken thigh to show clear juices running out of the chicken thigh meat.

Martin: If you don’t have a thermometer, then the juices should run clear when poked with a knife.

Image of Martin smiling at audience.

[End title: Food safety tips with Chef Martin Bosley]

[End of transcript]

Avoid cross-contamination of food

If you're not careful, you can spread harmful germs to different food and surfaces. For example, if you cut raw chicken then use the same knife and chopping board for other food, the germs can spread. This is called 'cross-contamination'. This can increase our risk of getting infected.

To help avoid this, separate foods to prevent germs spreading. Use different chopping boards and knives, and wash your hands.

Learn more about cross-contamination and how to avoid it

How to lower your risk of getting sick

The main things to remember are:

make sure you cook food properly
keep things clean when buying, transporting, storing, and preparing food. Kitchen surfaces and utensils, shopping bags, and hands can all spread the bacteria
wash hands thoroughly and often with soap, especially after the toilet, handling high-risk foods, and contact with pets or farm animals.

Expand all

Tips to keep germs from spreading

Toggle expandable

Wash and dry hands every time raw meat is handled.
Keep raw meat (including thawed meat) separate from other foods to make sure its juices don't drip onto other food.
Store raw meat (especially raw chicken) below ready-to-eat food in the refrigerator.
Ensure any frozen meat is thoroughly defrosted before cooking.
Use different chopping boards and utensils – one for raw meat and one for cooked food.

Cooking chicken and red meat

Toggle expandable

Cook meat (especially chicken meat and chicken livers, and mince) thoroughly. Cook the meat all the way through.

Make sure chicken juices run clear. If you can, use a meat thermometer. Use one of the following temperature/time combinations at the thickest part – 65°C for 10 minutes or 70°C for 2 minutes.

Advice on water, fruit and vegetables, raw milk, and washing chicken

Toggle expandable

Boil drinking water if you're not sure how safe it is.
Wash fruits and vegetables carefully, especially if you're eating them raw.
Avoid drinking raw (unpasteurised) milk.
Do not wash raw chicken. Some people wash chicken to clean it, but this can spread bacteria to other items in the kitchen.

Campylobacter in New Zealand

In 2006, New Zealand had one of the highest reported rates of Campylobacter infections in the world. It had 379 cases per 100,000 people. Since then, our management strategy has helped to reduce the disease to 126.1 cases per 100,000 people (as of 2019).