Food Safety Week was the perfect time to answer the most common question that brings people to the Australian Chicken Meat Federation website – “Is it safe to refreeze chicken?” ACMF executive director Dr Vivien Kite sets the record straight.
“Yes, you can refreeze chicken,” Dr Kite said.
“Just make sure it was properly defrosted in the fridge in the first place, and that it hasn’t been longer than 24 hours since you defrosted it.”
New research conducted by the Food Safety Information Council has revealed that 76 percent of Australians have got this fact wrong, incorrectly thinking that it’s not safe to refreeze chicken that has been defrosted in the fridge. The myth is more common among older Australians, with 88 percent of those over 65 thinking the practice is unsafe, compared with 58 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds.
“The myth that it is not safe to refreeze chicken meat that has been defrosted in the fridge is a mix between two issues – quality and safety,” Dr Kite said.
“While it is safe to put chicken that has been defrosted below 5C back into the freezer, the quality of the meat may deteriorate after thawing and refreezing.
“The reduction in quality can be caused by several things, such as the formation of ice crystals in the cells of the meat that can break it down so that it no longer looks as good as it did when it was bought.
“This affects the look of the chicken meat much more than the taste, and definitely does not affect the safety of the chicken, so the good news is that you don’t have to waste it – it’s still fine to cook for dinner.”
When defrosting chicken meat, it is very important that it is defrosted in the fridge below 5C, and it is best to store defrosting meat on the lowest shelf in the fridge.
“If you defrost your chicken meat on the kitchen bench and then refreeze it, you’ll be storing any bacteria that may have multiplied during thawing at room temperature and these can start growing again next time you defrost it!” Dr Kite said.
“And the more bacteria that are present, the greater the risk that someone might get sick. “Thorough cooking will destroy the bacteria though, so it is important to always ensure that chicken meat is cooked through, and that raw meat doesn’t come into contact with anything already cooked or anything that will be eaten raw, such as your salad ingredients.”
Concerningly, 67 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds think it is fine to refreeze chicken that has been defrosted on the bench. The good news is that 83 percent of respondents to the FSIC survey correctly understood that chicken shouldn’t be refrozen if it’s been defrosted on the benchtop. And 93 percent of respondents over 65 got this right.
For more chicken and food safety advice, visit the ACMF and Food Safety Information Council websites. Visit facts.chicken.org.au for more myth-busting about chicken meat production in Australia.