A recent safefood campaign successfully used social media and targeted marketing to encourage consumers not to wash raw poultry before cooking it.
Despite evidence that potentially harmful bacteria such as Campylobacter can ‘hitchhike’ on water droplets to contaminate nearby surfaces in the kitchen, safefood discovered that up to 66 per cent of people still wash raw chicken and poultry under the tap before cooking it, according to Dr Linda Gordon, Chief Specialist Food Science at safefood.
The ‘Don’t Wash Raw Chicken’ campaign, which ran in late 2014, encouraged consumers to think about the ‘splash zone’ around their sink, and where those bacteria might land, invisible to the naked eye. “It might be a fruit bowl, washed dishes, baby’s bottles or dummies or even the person’s own clothes,” said Linda.
Rather than washing the chicken and splashing the bugs, the campaign encouraged consumers to cook chicken thoroughly to kill off potentially harmful bacteria, and to handle leftovers safely.
As well as placing the messages at 197 purchase points, on 7,500 trolley handles and on numerous LCD screens and on outdoor advertising on the island of Ireland, the campaign also engaged consumers through social media.
It reached more than 825,000 people on Facebook and engaged with more than 10,000 Twitter users. Vox pops and short videos proved a particularly engaging element of the approach, according to Dr Aileen McGloin, Communication Manager: Digital and Health at safefood.
“We are very happy with how this campaign performed in terms of both reach and engagement, and are doing further research to see how it has changed attitudes and behaviours,” she says
Linda notes that everyone in the food chain, from producers to consumers, has a role to play in controlling Campylobacter. “Research is ongoing to try and keep Campylobacter out of broiler houses, but contamination rates on poultry are high and it is not a problem that is going to be solved very quickly,” she says. “So we need to give consumers the best advice to lower the risk of Campylobacter causing illness.”
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