The debate has plagued both home and professional cooks for decades: Should we be washing poultry before cooking it? Its covered in slime and bacteria that should be removed, right?

Well, according to both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service, the answer is a clear and resounding no.

Both agencies mention the potential spread of campylobacter and salmonella bacteria found in raw chicken and turkey that are known to cause food poisoning as primary reasons not to rinse poultry.

During washing, chicken juices can spread in the kitchen and contaminate other foods, utensils and countertops, reads the official CDC guidelines. In a semi-ironic twist, folks rinse chicken in an effort to get rid of the bacteria, but in doing so they end up spreading the unwanted organisms more widely.

Some of the bacteria are so tightly attached that you could not remove them no matter how many times you washed, the USDA points out.

By placing our meats under a faucet and turning on the water, experts say, were causing the splattering and cross-contamination that were looking to avoid in the first place.