Millions at risk from food-poison chicken bug

New figures from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) suggest that up to a third of the population could contract food poisoning from campylobacter, a bug most commonly found on raw chicken, during their lifetime.

The figure is based on the current infection rates of more than a quarter of a million people per year.

Campylobacter is most frequently found on raw poultry and is the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK.

The FSA has released the figure to mark the start of 2015’s Food Safety Week and the launch of the ‘Chicken Challenge’ – its call to the whole food chain, from industry to consumers, to do their bit to halve the number of campylobacter food poisoning cases by the end of 2015.

Over a quarter of a million people in the UK – an estimated 280,000 – currently fall ill with campylobacter food poisoning per year.

Food Standards Agency (FSA) director Nina Purcell said: “We’ve been working hard with the poultry industry to reduce that number by cutting the level of contamination on shop-bought chickens.

“At the moment, up to a third of us could fall ill with campylobacter at some point in our lives.

“We all have a responsibility to do what we can to reduce that figure.

“If everyone lives up to their promises - the FSA, consumers and the industry - then this really can happen, hugely reducing the number of people who get ill every year.”

The Food Safety Week ‘Chicken Challenge’ is asking people who eat chicken to promise to take the following steps to protect themselves and their families:

store raw chicken separately from other food,

covered and chilled on the bottom shelf of the fridge

not to wash raw chicken as it splashes germs

wash everything that’s touched raw chicken in soap and hot water, including hands and utensils

check chicken is cooked properly until it’s steaming hot throughout with no pink meat and the juices run clear

For more details about the chicken challenge, visit www.food.gov.uk/chickenchallenge.