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Think back to the last time you cooked chicken. Are you the type who sanitizes every surface for fear of bugs or do you just slap the chicken in a pan, rub some butter in with your fingers and stick it in the oven for an hour or two?

It appears most cooks are scrupulous about kitchen hygiene, according to new research from Which?

Their survey found that 75% of people in Britain wash a whole chicken before they cook it.

Unfortunately, choosing to wash meat can actually increase the danger of food poisoning by spreading potentially dangerous bacteria onto surrounding kitchen work surfaces.

The survey also found over half of us thought salmonella was the biggest cause of food poisoning. Only 2% correctly identified campylobacter as the biggest culprit - despite a recently published Food Standards Agency study which discovered the bug in 65% of raw chickens.

Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said: ''It shouldn't be up to consumers to clean up problems made earlier in the food chain, but if you're planning on cooking a whole chicken be aware that if it's infected washing it actually increases the risk of food poisoning.

An FSA spokeswoman said: ''Washing raw poultry is a common kitchen mistake, and it simply isn't necessary. Tap water won't get rid of the germs that cause food poisoning but they will be killed by thorough cooking. By washing your raw bird, you're actually more likely to spread the germs around the kitchen than get rid of them.''