Survey Finds 73% Of Fresh Chickens Have Bug

Almost three-quarters of fresh shop-bought chickens have tested positive for the food poisoning bug campylobacter.

And around a fifth (19%) were found by the Food Standards Agency study to contain the highest rate of the bug, which is the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK.
The year-long survey examined the prevalence and levels of campylobacter contamination on fresh whole chilled chickens and their packaging.
The results revealed all of the big retailers failed to reach the industry target for reducing the bug during the period of the study which ran over 12 months to February.
Asda had a higher-than-average incidence of chicken contaminated at the highest level, while Tesco was the only supermarket to fall below the industry average.
Tests were carried out on more than 4,000 samples of fresh whole chickens and packaging from large UK retail outlets and smaller independent stores and butchers.
A second survey will be launched this summer to examine the effectiveness of measures being taken by the industry to combat the bug.