Food poisoning bug 'found in 73% of shop-bought chickens'-gctid152056

[Ajamu]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-32911228

Food poisoning bug 'found in 73% of shop-bought chickens'

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•    28 May 2015
• From the section UK
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Some 73% of fresh shop-bought chicken tested positive for food poisoning bug campylobacter in a year-long study by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The survey tested about 4,000 samples of whole raw chickens bought from UK retail outlets and independent stores.

All of the major retailers failed to reach industry targets to reduce the bug over the period of the study.

But the FSA said Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, the Co-op and Waitrose had since seen a fall in contamination.

The  four retailers carried out their own case studies to show how their  plans to reduce levels of campylobacter are working, the results of  which have also been published.

This data - from tests carried  out on more recent samples than the FSA study - showed "significant  decreases in the incidence of campylobacter on their raw whole  chickens", the agency said.

Campylobacter is the most common form  of food poisoning in the UK, with an estimated 280,000 people a year  affected by it. Poultry is the source of most cases - although cooking  meat properly will kill the bug.
The Campylobacter menace

By James Gallagher, BBC News website health editor

About  280,000 people discover the gut-wrenching pain of a campylobacter  infection each year - symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach pains and  cramps, fever, and generally feeling unwell.

The illness usually  lasts for a few days but it can lead to long-term health problems,  including irritable bowel syndrome and reactive arthritis, or even be  fatal.

The overwhelming majority of cases come from contaminated  poultry - about four in five - but other sources include red meat,  unpasteurised milk and untreated water.

Campylobacter is very  easily spread so other foods prepared in the same kitchen, so even if  your chicken is thoroughly cooked you may have contaminated something  else.

Steps to avoid it include covering and chilling raw  chicken, not washing raw chicken (as washing may spread the bug),  cooking it thoroughly and washing hands and used utensils thoroughly.

The FSA has more information on the bug
Retailers challenged

The  FSA study, which ran from February 2014, looked at the prevalence and  levels of campylobacter contamination on the chickens and their  packaging.

The FSA said 19% of the chickens tested positive for the bug at the highest level of contamination.
The results found that:

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• Asda had the highest rate of  contamination in fresh whole chickens, at 80%, followed by the Co-op  with 78%, Morrison's with 76%, Waitrose with 74%, Sainsbury's with 70%,  and Tesco and Marks & Spencer, both with a rate of 67%
• Asda had a higher-than-average incidence of chicken that was contaminated at the highest level
• Tesco was the only major supermarket  with a lower rate of chickens contaminated at the highest level, when  compared with the industry average

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[TH=class: story-table__heading, colspan: 4]Raw whole chickens: Contamination rates (Source: FSA)[/TH]
[TH=class: story-table__heading__col]Retailer[/TH]
[TH=class: story-table__heading__col]% skin samples with campylobacter[/TH]
[TH=class: story-table__heading__col]% skin samples with high-level campylobacter[/TH]
[TH=class: story-table__heading__col]% pack samples with campylobacter[/TH]

Asda	80.4	29.7	12.4
Co-op	78.1	19.1	4.9
M&S	67.1	17.4	2.9
Morrison's	75.8	22.0	11.2
Sainsbury's	69.7	16.4	4.9
Tesco	66.5	12.8	4.0
Waitrose	73.8	18.4	9.7
Others	76.8	23.9	6.7
Average	72.8	19.4	6.7

Steve Wearne, FSA director of policy, said: "I  want to challenge those retailers who haven't yet demonstrated the  impact that M&S, Morrisons, the Co-op and Waitrose are having on  reducing campylobacter on chickens on their shelves.

"We expect  all retailers and processors to be achieving the reductions we have seen  in these retailers' figures - that's the only way we will meet the  target we all signed up to."

'Beggars belief'

Individual  figures for Lidl, Aldi and Iceland were not available as their market  share was not considered large enough. Their results were reported  together with those from independent butchers and convenience stores.

A  second year of testing to measure the impact of moves introduced by the  food industry to tackle the problem will begin in summer.  

The  British Poultry Council, the national trade group for the poultry  industry, said its members remained committed to reducing campylobacter  in chicken as a "top priority".

Richard Lloyd, the executive  director of consumer group Which?, said: "It beggars belief that nearly  three-quarters of chickens on sale in supermarkets are still infected  with this potentially deadly bug and that no retailers have met the  FSA's target."

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Frontline's 'The Trouble With Chicken' Reveals Why So Much Chicken Makes You Sick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DunJEu9uuu8

[Nana]

These bacteria are found all over the kitchen of chicken eaters including refrigerator handles counter tops plumbing fixtures. This creates a danger for preparing raw foods in the same kitchen. This is why it is best to eat your raw food delicacies in restaurants that are vegan and have no dead animal parts contaminating the rest of the foods.