Gastro bug in 65pc of chickens

More than half of the supermarket chickens in a Consumer NZ study carried campylobacter, but the poultry association says the test was much stricter than official requirements.

The study of 40 chickens found nearly two-thirds had the same bacteria that caused this year’s Havelock North gastro outbreak.

Of the chickens tested 65 per cent tested positive for campylobacter, Consumer NZ said.

Eating chicken that contained campylobacter would not necessarily make people sick, if it was in low amounts or if the bird was cooked properly.

‘‘The Consumer test was on a select piece of chicken with highly sensitised testing to pick up the smallest trace of campylobacter,’’ Poultry Industry Association director Michael Brooks said.

The study was different to the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) testing requirements.

Before Havelock North’s water crisis in August, cases of gastro illness caused by the bug had been tracking towards their lowest point in history, Brooks said.

He said chicken only accounted for 40 per cent of New Zealand’s campylobacter cases.

Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin said her organisation’s findings didn’t mean that anyone who ate the infected chicken would get sick. ’’But it increases the chances.’’

The bug could survive if chicken was undercooked or the raw meat touched other food.

About 135 of every 100,000 Kiwis fell ill with campylobacter last year.

Although MPI required all meatworks to test chicken carcases for the bug, Chetwin wanted retailers to test for it as well.

‘‘Experience in the United Kingdom, where retail testing is carried out, indicates it raises public awareness of the problem and can also prompt retailers and manufacturers to reduce contamination in the supply chain.’’

The UK had 32 fewer cases of campylobacter-related illness, per 100,000 people, than New Zealand’s rate.