EDP24

Chicken superbug warning

16 August 2005 01:43

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.

The Real Story, presented by Fiona Bruce, sent samples of 64 birds from the UK and 83 from abroad to the Health Protection Agency.

More than a third of the 147 samples, which did not include organic chickens, had E.coli germs resistant to the important antibiotic Trimethaprim, which is used to treat bladder infections.

Scientists also found 12 of the chickens had antibiotic-resistant campylobacter, the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK.

And Vancomycin-resistant enteroccci was found in one in 25 of the samples, although more tests would be needed to confirm the exact type of the bug found, the BBC said.

In most cases, the bacteria are killed off by the cooking process but if meat is not heated through, it can cause problems.

Chicken is the UK's biggest- selling meat, with 860m birds reared and slaughtered in this country alone - about 20pc of them in East Anglia.

Peter Bradnock, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, which represents 90pc of poultry companies in the UK, said the BBC survey was "alarmist".

"The small survey by the BBC has thrown up very different results from the more structured and controlled studies of antibiotic resistance undertaken by the Veterinary Laboratory Agency in all food producing animals.

"Antibiotic resistance is highly complex and difficult in human medicine as well in the veterinary sector. To use the results of this small and questionable survey instead of existing, more comprehensive, soundly based and scientifically reviewed studies of antibiotic resistance across all food animal species, would be irresponsible, and would be very misleading and worrying for consumers."

In the late 1980s sales of eggs plummeted after the then Health Minister Edwina Currie declared most British-produced eggs were infected with salmonella.

Since then a nationwide programme of vaccination has seen salmonella contamination fall by two thirds.

Fears of BSE in the early 1990s also led to many shoppers giving up red meat in favour of chicken, which is also lower in cholesterol.

How to cook:

Traditional Roast Chicken.

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 375°F (190°C).

Place the chicken in the oven on the centre shelf and cook for 20 minutes per lb (450 g), plus 10-20 minutes extra - this will be 1 hour and 50 minutes to 2 hours for a 5 lb (2.25 kg) bird, or 2 hours 10 minutes to 2 hours 20 minutes for a 6 lb (2.7 kg) bird. The chicken is cooked if the juices run clear when the thickest part of the leg is pierced with a skewer.