families are being advised to doublebag their chicken in the fridge campylobacter, a dangerous bacteria found on raw chicken, is present on the external packaging of thousands of british chickens sold in the uk this was according to food standards agency report published this week families are being advised to doublebag their chicken and store it away from other food in the fridge as poisonous bacteria has been found on the outside of packaging.campylobacter, a common group of dangerous bacteria found on raw chicken, is present on the external packaging of thousands of british chickens sold in the uk, according to a food standards agency it will warn that chicken, even if it is packaged, will now need to be kept away from children and in a separate bag in the fridge.&lsquothe biggest risk is in food preparation, as this is when campylobacter is most likely to spread to surfaces or hands,&rsquo a spokesman told the daily telegraph. &lsquobut you could put raw poultry in a separate bag as well, as there is always a small risk that the bacteria is also on the packaging.&rsquo earlier this year, the fsa named campylobacter as the biggest cause of food poisoning, ahead of clostridium perfringens and the norovirus, which is commonly associated with shellfish. a preliminary study by the fsa in august found that the potentially lethal bacteria was on the outside of chicken packaging in 4 per cent of cases. agency officials were so concerned about campylobacter contamination of chicken that it launched a survey of the meat on sale in supermarkets with the intention of regularly publishing a &lsquoname and shame&rsquo list, and said &lsquopoultry meat was the food linked to the most cases of food poisoning, with an estimated 244,000 cases every year.&rsquo campylobacter, a common group of dangerous bacteria found on raw chicken, is present on the external packaging of thousands of british chickens sold in the uk, according to a food standards agency campylobacter, a common group of dangerous bacteria found on raw chicken, is present on the external packaging of thousands of british chickens sold in the uk, according to a food standards agency the british retail consortium said it supported the fsa&rsquos objective to reduce campylobacter and added that &lsquoretailers&hellip are investing in their supply chains working with farmers and processors to identify controls.&lsquomeasures implemented include introducing leakproof packaging on all whole birds to control the spread of any contamination and provision of onpack labelling which advises consumers on how to handle and prepare poultry.&rsquo when the fsa announced the studies in august, it said that the main objective was to shame traders, forcing them to take more action to protect their customers. the packaging warning comes just days after the mail reported that public health england suggested consumers could help protect themselves against food poisoning by freezing chicken after buying it fresh and defrosting it before cooking. six in every ten chickens sold by supermarkets contain potentially lethal bugs that infect half a million people a year, and around 100 of the victims die.source httpwww.dailymail.co.uknewsarticle2846787poisonousbacteriaoutsidechickenpac…
