Stupid SafeFood "don't wash the turkey" campaign

ClubMan

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Anybody else notice the advertisements for the [broken link removed] urging people not to wash their Xmas turkey for fear of spreading life threatening microbes around their kitchen (we're doooomed, I tell you....! :eek:)? The feature a picture of Dustin the Turkey and some bimbo smiling inanely, yes - you guessed it, washing the turkey. At first glance it looks like they are actually encouraging people to do this. Talk about confusing. Not to mention pointless... :rolleyes:
 
haven't seen the add, but sure every year there is some new way to cook the turkey...i don' know how they survived in the old days!!!!
 
There was a flyer included with last Saturday's Indo as part of the campaign. I can only assume there must be some evidence of food poisoning that prompts this campaign..there are people who don't cook and then decide "I'm going to do the turkey this year!"
 
At least it's not as stupid as their billboard campaign informing people that a lunchbox full of iced doughnuts and crips has practically no nutritional value. Are there really people out there who don't already know that?
 
Yes it would appear so.....have you seen how many over weight kids there are in this country.
Maybe they thought they could shame parents into giving kids a decent lunch.
 
Excess weight can be gained just as easily by something nutritious which happens to have a high fat content as by something that has no nutritional value though.
 
Although the add itself might be corny, I do think its worthwhile reminding people of how easily they can become sick if food is not handled properly. A program on Channel 4 (I think) the other night although kinda sensational in content, did talk about the high number of people who die from food poisoning from turkeys/poultry etc that are not cooked/handled properly.
 
Some years ago Edwina Curry was forced to resign as Agriculture Minister in the UK for saying that 'most' chickens in the UK were contaminated with salmonella. A few years ago she appeared on the Late Late Show where Pat Kenny brought up the issue. She replied by quoting the number of people in the UK who had died from salmonella poisoning in the time since her resignation. I can't remember the exact number, but it amounted to several hundred people...
 
farmer said:
Excess weight can be gained just as easily by something nutritious which happens to have a high fat content as by something that has no nutritional value though.
Yes but kids are more likely to over eat crap like sweets and crisps thus becoming fat.
 
Taking reasonable precautions against real risks and educating the public to handle food properly is all well and good but scaremongering and confusing advertisements (e.g. a picture of somebody with a turkey in a basin of water when the message is supposed to be "don't do this") is just silly. In my c. 40 years I have actually never come across anybody who has suffered from food poisoning. Maybe I'm unusual?
 
Oh I have had food poisining and it is not nice and I have a relation who got samonella after a wedding at a well known hotel and it took many months to make a full recovery but still hallo the ad is stupid - but i have to admit I have never washed the turkey because i always assumed it came from the butcher ready to bung in the oven !! But then I always thought that with a chicken too until the day I took the lovely roast chicken from the oven to discover a melted plastic bag oozing from the centre of it. Nigella Lawson I'm not ! So do we wash the turkey or not or just bung enough booze in it to kill all known germs ! And the million dollar question does anyone actually really like turkey or do we just eat it for the tradition ?
 
ClubMan said:
Taking reasonable precautions against real risks and educating the public to handle food properly is all well and good but scaremongering and confusing advertisements (e.g. a picture of somebody with a turkey in a basin of water when the message is supposed to be "don't do this") is just silly. In my c. 40 years I have actually never come across anybody who has suffered from food poisoning. Maybe I'm unusual?

I agree with you to a greater degree Clubman but it still amazes me how many people will not wash their hands after using the toilet, before handling food or eating. Based on evidence of all of the above we should see many incidences of food poisoning but maybe such "poisoning" manifests itself as minor bugs etc as opposed to more serious afflictions.
 
I'll be eating lamb that's been slow cooked for eight hours to kill off them pesky bugs! :D

One of the joys of being in a separate county to my family.....

Sarah
 
A helpful poster has PM'd me as follows, to clarify an error I made above.

Can't post to LOS but I think you will find it was eggs that were the downfall of Edwina's Ministerial career
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/76114.stm

“Egg sales fell by 60% after she said that most of the country's egg production was infected by salmonella and she was forced to resign”
 
I presume that everybody will clean the turkey thoroughly though with kitchen paper?

Marion
 
Does all this mean that I should have brought it in from the boot of the car, last Friday? Sure I thought it would have been grand and cold out there, these last few days... :D
 
This site recommnds washing the turkey in the sink and is very helpful with loads of tips etc.




Enjoy


Murt
 
angie said:
And the million dollar question does anyone actually really like turkey or do we just eat it for the tradition ?
I prefer a nice ham to be honest. And when did turkey for Xmas dinner become a tradition in Ireland? Was this imported from the US Thanksgiving or "holiday" festivities or something?
 
I think that the tradition of having turkey at Christmas is very short lived. If I recall we always had goose when we were kids at Christmas.

I think turkey is a fairly recent phenomenon.

It became more prevalent with the advent of the frozen turkey in Tesco and Dunnes.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it! :)

Marion
 
I only ever remember turkey (in Dublin) and I'm hitting 40 at this stage... The mother in law's family is from County Cavan and they talk about having goose or duck.
 
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