CLUCK News: Consumer Reports Dings Grocery Chicken

In a seven-page story that filled the cover of the February 2014 Consumer Reports, the magazine tested more than 300 raw chicken breasts and concluded "97% harbored bacteria that could make you sick".

CLUCK SQUAWK: Urinary Tract Infections May be Linked to Store-Bought Chicken!

In another case of the fox reporting on the henhouse, FOX News has reported that "Chickens may ultimately be to blame for the majority of urinary tract infection in the U.S." This sensational claim is based on a Center for Disease Control (CDC) study that found that that strains of E. coli believed to cause UTIs in women matched the strains of E. coli found in retail chicken meat. The most noteworthy aspect of this linkage is that "the bacteria did not come from any contamination during the preparation process, but from the chicken itself."

But don't take FOX News word for it. Here's a link to the actual CDC report: 

CLUCK NEWS: Bacteria-contaminated chicken apparently common in stores

AOLNews is reporting on two recent investigations that suggest large percentages of chicken meat sold in stores is likely to be contaminated with problematic bacteria, some of it antibiotic resistant. One nationwide study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases reported that when they looked at 80 different brands of beef, chicken, pork and turkey (some from Fort Lauderdale) nearly half of the meat and poultry samples (47%) were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus. And more than half of those were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics.

Another recent study was conducted  analyzed "100 packages of chicken parts and fryers from 10 Seattle-area groceries during March. The analysis of these samples found that 65 percent of the birds tested had campylobacter, 19 percent had Salmonella and 2 percent had E. coli or listeria." Some had Staphyloccoccus aureus, including Multi-drug Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), which is very difficult to treat.