Throughout the year 80 per cent of calls received by The Australian Chicken Meat Federation (ACMF), the peak body representing chicken meat growers and processors in Australia, are from anxious consumers wanting to check how to cook and handle chicken safely. This increases with the approach of Christmas with people fearing they may risk ruining the Christmas lunch.

Dr Andreas Dubs comments, "It is estimated that over the course of a year 5.4 million Australians, nearly a quarter of the population, fall sick as a direct result of poor food safety practices . Anxiety levels also rise around food safety practices when people have more family and friends to feed around the Christmas table.

"We are often asked how to know when a whole bird is cooked properly and also questions about storage. Frequent questions relate to whether chicken can be re-frozen once defrosted, can it be refrozen once cooked, and how long can raw chicken be stored in the fridge before being cooked" he says.