Meghan’s Latest Cooking Video Sparks Hygiene Concerns, Viewers Call Her ‘Salmonella Sussex’

Social media users flagged food safety issues after the Duchess appeared to handle raw poultry without removing her rings and bracelets.

A brief moment in the kitchen has once again placed Meghan Markle under an unforgiving spotlight. This time, the trigger was not a magazine cover nor attending a birthday party of a reality TV star, but a short cooking clip shared online. The Duchess of Sussex, seen preparing a Thanksgiving turkey, has drawn unexpected criticism over food hygiene, with social media users dubbing her 'Salmonella Sussex' over her unhygienic practices. 

The video, posted to Instagram, is a time-lapse video which shows the 44-year-old preparing a raw turkey ahead of the festive meal. Markle is seen mixing seasonings in a bowl and rubbing the blend directly onto the bird as part of her preparation. Viewers zoomed in not on the recipe, but on her hands. While she washed her hands after applying the seasoning, users pointed out that her rings and bracelets remained on throughout the process. For the online audience, that small detail was enough to trigger a flood of concern, mockery, and warnings about the risks of bacteria. 

Reddit users, in particular, leaned hard into the backlash with a mix of sarcasm, ridicule, and outright anger. One widely shared post set the tone with the caption, “And today, dear Americans, as we approach Thanksgiving, we have another cooking tip from Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. When seasoning a turkey, season all of its rings and bracelets.” The thread quickly gathered momentum, with the now-viral label catching on fast. One user summed it up bluntly, calling it “Another Salmonella Sussex disaster.” The criticism soon moved beyond hygiene to character attacks. One commenter accused her of being calculated and performative, writing, “That’s how pretentious she is… announcing her titles when she doesn’t do any service, and desperately wanting to flex jewellery when surely she knows not to wear it when cooking. She always puts herself above everyone else. Disgusting.”

Others focused squarely on what they saw as poor kitchen practice. “Absolutely. She has the worst kitchen hygiene. The ‘domestic’ goddess is clueless. The more she pretends to be a cook, the more fake she shows herself to be. Jewellery rubbing up against the meat, hair shedding, and her grubby paws stroking the poor dead bird,” on e wrote. Some users took a more sarcastic route. “Seriously. Disposable gloves are a couple of bucks in the US,” one joked, followed by another adding, “This. She doesn’t cook, so she wouldn’t think to keep disposable gloves in her kitchen.” The pile-on continued with snide remarks like, “She's gone from roasting chickens to roasting turkeys. No cooking involved."

Amid the mockery, a few comments had a serious tone. One user, sharing a personal experience, wrote, “People just don’t realize that rings can and will harbor germs, and by not taking your rings off, you are asking for trouble. My mom learned that lesson. She had to have her wedding and anniversary rings cut off her fingers because of the infection. The doctors told her all it takes is one small scratch. I always take off my rings and any other jewelry I am wearing on my hands when I’m in the kitchen.” It's clear that the 'mum joke' and the Thanksgiving turkey did not do their job in making for a sweet post, but rather ended up being yet another scathing backlash session for Meghan Markle.