At least 45 million Kenyans frequently consume chicken with 27.6 per cent of the total population partaking in the meal once a week, data from the UN-Food and Agriculture Organisation shows.
FAO says 92.6 per cent of the population frequently eat chicken meat and the consumption is projected to rise over the next three decades.
With the statistics pointing at Chicken meat being a favourite delicacy in Kenyan homes, do they know how best it should be prepared?
While others begin by washing raw poultry before cooking experts warn against this tradition.
Food safety expert from World Health Organization Dr Simone Moraes Raszl says washing or rinsing chicken meat does not remove harmful bacteria that live on raw chicken but worsens it by helping the bacteria to spread.
"When you wash chicken or other meat, you spread contaminants that can be on the surface of the meat, in your hands or in the surfaces around where you are preparing the chicken so don’t do that," Dr Simone explained during WHO’s question and answer session on Wednesday.
According to the WHO, Salmonella and Campylobacter are some of the most common foodborne pathogens that affect people annually, sometimes with severe and fatal outcomes.
Symptoms can be fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
In her message as the World marked Food Safety Day on June 7, Dr Simone instead advised that the chicken meat be cooked without washing it so it is safe to eat to avoid foodborne illness.
"Just cook the meat very well and make sure that you kill all the potential contaminants that would be in the chicken and after handling the chicken wash it well your hands and all the utensils that were used," Dr Simon.
Foodborne illnesses are usually infectious or toxic and caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances entering the body through contaminated food.
Chemical contamination can lead to acute poisoning or long-term diseases, such as cancer.
Many foodborne diseases may lead to long-lasting disability and death.
