“It is not fatty, and I love it. I never worry about food poisoning,” said a 39-year-old company employee enjoying a plate of chicken sashimi at a yakitori bar in Tokyo.
The owner of the yakitori bar added, “Chicken sashimi and tataki have been some of our popular dishes since we opened (50 years ago). I am careful about campylobacter.”
The owner said she purchases chickens freshly butchered in the morning for sashimi, and the meat is boiled in hot water until the surface turns white.
No cases of food poisoning have ever been reported related to her restaurant.
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The main cause of chicken food poisoning is campylobacter, which is found in the intestines of the chickens and other animals.
Campylobacter is responsible for about 60 percent of all bacterial food poisoning cases in Japan. About 300 cases are reported annually with an estimated 2,000 individuals affected.
More than 800 people complained about stomachaches or diarrhea in Tokyo and Fukuoka in April and May after eating chicken breast sashimi and chicken sushi rolls at events made by the same company.
The mass food poisoning in the span of two months prompted the ministry to issue its advisory.
According to ministry preliminary statistics, there were 56 cases with 395 people treated at the hospital for food poisoning from campylobacter from June to August. More than half of the identified causes were due to consuming chicken.
The bacteria can get transferred to the meat if a butcher mishandles chicken viscera. Consumers can be infected if the meat is not properly cooked, even though the bacteria can be killed by heat.
Another ministry report says that 67 percent of chicken meat processed for consumption tested positive for the bacteria, and freshness does not always mean safe.