CDC Official Says Americans Shouldn’t Wash Their Thanksgiving Turkeys

It’s not only unnecessary but it can be very unhealthy to “wash” a turkey during Thanksgiving, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health officials have advised—again. “Washing raw turkey can spread germs to other food,” the agency said in a notice issued several weeks ago. The advisory is being sent out, the agency said, because a 2020 survey found that 78 percent of respondents “reported washing or rinsing a turkey before cooking.” “Old recipes and family cooking traditions” may be the reason for the trend, the advisory said, but the practice can “make you and your family sick” because raw poultry juice can “contaminate other foods, utensils, and countertops.”...