All samples of Danish chicken meat taken by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration in 2010 were free from all types of Salmonella. Also the 2010 targeted random sampling tests showed that the presence of Campylobacter in both Danish and imported broiler meat decreased for the third year in a row.

Last year, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration found Salmonella in about 10 per cent of the random samples of imported broiler meat. Meat from Danish broilers is consequently much safer than imported chicken meat. This even after a fall in the presence of Salmonella in imported meat.

Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Henrik Høegh, said: "The results confirm that our efforts to keep Danish chicken meat free from Salmonella are working, and in recent years we have also seen a fall in Salmonella in meat from imported poultry.

"These results are good news for food safety, and the latest figures from the EU also show that still fewer consumers are being infected by Salmonella in Denmark as well as in the other Member, States."

The new figures are taken from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration's 2010 report on the so-called 'case-by-case' control scheme. In these controls, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration takes risk based random samples of Danish and imported poultry, pork and beef to see if the meat poses a risk to food safety due to infection with Salmonella or Campylobacter.

The case-by-case control scheme has generated a large amount of data over the past four years. During 2011, these data will form the basis for an assessment of the control scheme with a view to strengthening and optimising the scheme.