"It's a dirty industry and it needs to be cleaned up," says Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Director of Consumers Union. Consumer Reports says a new study finds a lot of the chicken we're eating is contaminated with bacteria. The group purchased 382 raw whole broiler chickens from more than 100 stores in 22 states. They were tested for salmonella and a dangerous bacteria called campylobacter. The findings revealed 62% of the birds had some level of campylobacter, 14% had salmonella.... 9% had both. Only 34% of the chickens were completely clean of all bacteria.

"The government needs to take a look at what measures work, what measures don't and need to step up the standards so less contaminated birds are sold to consumers overall," said Rangan.

The CDC estimates salmonella and campylobacter from chicken and other food infects 3.3 million Americans. It hospitalizes 26,000 and kills more than 650 every year.

The National Chicken Council, representing chicken producers in the U.S. says raw chicken may have some bacteria present. However it says the organisms are destroyed by the heat of normal cooking. Experts are encouraging us to always wash our hands when working with raw chicken. They also say make sure you cook it thoroughly.