The mega-supermarket chain Tesco has reported 9 percent of chickens tested in the first quarter this year had the highest level of Campylobacter contamination.
This is above the Food Standards Agency (FSA) target of 7 percent and Tesco’s own benchmark of 5 percent of birds with more than 1,000 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g) of Campylobacter.
Tesco data shows 9 percent of 132 samples from January to March had the top level of contamination. It is double the percentage reported in the previous quarter.
“The safety and quality of the food we sell remains our top priority. The results this quarter were affected by a reduced sample size compared to previous tests, and we believe we’ll see levels return to within our expected range in future,” said a Tesco spokesperson.
Another large retailer Asda has not yet provided 1Q figures for 2020 and did not respond to a request for comment.
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