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

Asda say they are carrying out independent tests to reduce the amount of the food poisoning bug campylobacter in their chickens.

It comes after more than 80% of samples tested positive for the bug, making it the worst performing supermarket in research done by the Food Standards Agency.

An Asda spokeswoman said: "We continue to take Campylobacter very seriously and are encouraged by our own most recent test data which confirms we’re making good progress to reaching the FSA’s target.

"We’re already seeing significant results from some of these trials including an impressive 80% reduction on both the neck and breast skin following the implementation of a steam process – SonoSteam.

"Along with other retailers and our suppliers we remain committed to working collaboratively to finding a robust solution to this problem that can be rolled across our entire whole bird range.

"In the meantime we continue to offer shoppers helpful advice on how to safely prepare and cook chicken – which will kill off any trace of the bug."

A food poisoning bug has been found in nearly three quarters (73%) of fresh shop-bought chickens, the Food Standards Agency said.

A year-long study found 19% of the chickens contained the highest rate of the bug, which affects an estimated 280,000 people a year.

The study focused on the levels of campylobacter contamination on fresh whole chilled chickens and their packaging.

All major retailers failed to reach the industry target for reducing the bug between February 2014 to this February, the FSA said.

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.

The latest figures on levels of contamination in fresh, shop-bought chicken are due to be published by the Food Standards Agency today.

In February, the FSA reported that contamination of campylobacter - which causes the most common form of food poisoning in the UK - was up across the board, with every major retailer failing to meet reduction targets.

The FSA's survey has tested around 4,000 samples of whole chickens bought from UK retail outlets and smaller independent stores and butchers.