// ludwig....I think that you have got it wrong......
70% of cases of diarrhea are due to campylobacter NOT 70% of supermarket chickens are infected with campylobacter. //
sqad - I was relating the Sunday Times article from memory, so it's not quite right, but I've found it, and here are some edited highlights (I'd like to post a link but I don't think it's online).
// Half a million people a year are getting food poisoning as a result of eating contaminated British chickens according to research published by the food standards agency, which lays much of the blame on poor standards of hygiene in abattoirs and poultry farms.
The epidemic, which is claiming 140 lives a year .... is being caused by Camphylobacter.........at least 80% of British chicken flocks are infected with the bug....//
// Most fresh British chickens sold in shops are contaminated, with 27% classed by the FSA as "Highly contaminated" //
// A recent study by Professor Gordon Nichols, of the European Centre for Disease Prevention in Stockholm found 500,000 Britons get Camphylobacter poisoning each year, 80% from chicken. //
// Victims typically suffer days of uncontrollable vomiting and diarrhoea and can take weeks to recover //
// The microbe is destroyed by proper cooking, so the risk to consumers comes from undercooked meat and contact with packaging //