Chicken superbug warning
UK - Consumers were warned last night that chicken sold in UK stores could be contaminated with drug-resistant superbugs.Of the British-grown chickens analysed for a BBC1 programme The Real Story, more than half were contaminated with E.coli - which can cause large outbreaks of food poisoning - resistant to three or more antibiotics.
East Anglia's poultry industry hit back at the "sensationalist" programme and called for a reasoned and scientific approach rather than the "irresponsible" snapshot survey.
There were also fears that the programme could spark a widespread boycott of chicken - similar to that surrounding the salmonella-in-eggs episode in the late 1980s - which would have major implications for the region's 4500 jobs in the industry.
Source: new.edp24.co.uk
16 August 2005
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