Eating chicken is proving to be an especially hazardous enterprise. Find out just how foul eating fowl can be. At least 1,000 US citizens are killed each year by contaminated chicken. As many as 80 million others are sickened.
Inspectors have about two seconds to visually examine the inside and outside of each chicken.
At this rate, inspectors may examine 12,000 or more chickens in one day. There are presently 1,370 unfilled federal meat inspector positions. In 1994 and 1995, more than 1.9 million inspection tasks went unperformed because of these vacancies. A 3-ounce serving of chicken breast contains 75 mgs of cholesterol. A 3-ounce serving of ground beef contains 72 mgs.