Tokyo Food Safety Information Center » Preventing Food Poisoning » Campylobacter food poisoning: Be aware and prevent it » For people with small children
For people with small children
In general, small children are more susceptible to food poisoning than adults.
Adults should take care to prevent food poisoning in children.
Is it alright to feed small children toriwasa or chicken sashimi?
In general, children are affected by food poisoning more easily than adults and tend to develop serious symptoms. You should be careful not to feed your children with chicken dishes that are raw or nearly raw such as chicken sashimi or toriwasa. In particular, an adult should check whether hot-pot dishes are adequately cooked. You should also try to wash your hands and any chopping boards and so on that have been in contact with chicken to ensure that the Campylobacter on raw chicken does not get into your baby’s mouth.
I want to make deep-fried chicken with my small children, but would it be better not to let them touch raw chicken?
In most cases, there are some kind of bacteria on raw meat, not just chicken. However, it is important that children fully understand the risks of raw meat and that you teach them how to wash after cooking and touching it.
I want my small children to experience cooking with chicken, but how should they wash their hands after touching the chicken?
We recommend washing twice using a liquid soap.
Sometimes small children are not able to wash their hands properly by themselves, so an adult should be sure to wash with them so that they clean right between their fingers.