Food Standard Agency tested 4,000 fresh chickens bought from retail outlets and independent stores in the UK. and found them to be positive for a food poisoning bug known as Campylobacter.
Stated by FSA, Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK, which affects an estimated 280,000 people every year.
The most common cause of Campylobacter poisoning is from poultry. After the consumption of the contaminated food the effects on the body include vomiting, severe diarrhea and abdominal pain. It can even lead to irritable bowel movement.The illness will last for a few days which can lead to serious health problem.
The FSA 12- month research, started from February 2014, and focused on the prevalence of Campylobacter contamination in raw chickens and packaging.
According to their research, most of the major retailers failed to hit industry targets to reduce the contamination during the period of their investigation, only Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, the Co-op and Waitrose found a drop in contamination levels.
The four retailers in their conducted internal case studies, found ways to reduce the levels of Campylobacter. Based on their recent samples the data showed that there is a significant reduction of Campylobacter level in their fresh chickens.
The FSA said that 19% of the fresh chickens tested to be positive of the bug and was at the highest level of contamination.
FSA results showed that Asda ranked highest in the of the contaminated chicken, while Tesco falls below the average.
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."
