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4% of Finnish Chicken Infected with Campylobacter

The European Union's food safety agency says most chicken sold in Europe is infected with bacteria that can cause food poisoning if the meat is not cooked thoroughly. Four percent of Finnish chicken has the bacteria.

Image: YLE

18.3.2010 6:39Updated 12.4.2012 23:22

In a report issued on Wednesday, scientists said 76 percent of chicken they tested at slaughterhouses in 2008 was infected with campylobacter and another 16 percent had salmonella.

Both can cause diarrhea and fever. The campylobacter is destroyed by heat.

The agency says infection rates vary widely across Europe -- with all chickens it tested in Luxembourg showing positive for campylobacter. Finnish chickens exhibited the lowest infection rates in the EU at four percent.