Campylobacter makes 500,000 ill

The Food Standards Agency has reissued calls to tackle the high incidence of campylobacter found on raw chicken after revealing the bacteria causes around 500,000 illnesses in the UK every year.

The estimated figure last year stood at 300,000 cases when the FSA identified campylobacter as a food safety priority in its Foodborne Disease Strategy.

The biggest research into infectious intestinal diseases (IID) for 10 years was published by the FSA earlier this month. It was found that campylobacter was the main cause of bacterial IID. Recent surveys have also revealed that two-thirds of chicken samples on sale in the UK were contaminated with the bacteria.  Read full article at http://www.ehn-online.com/news/article.aspx?id=5274