§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on food poisoning attributed to chickens and eggs in the 12 months to December.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThere were over 12,000 isolations of salmonella enteritidis, phage type 4, reported to the public health laboratory service in 1988. This was more than double the number reported in 1987. Other salmonella serotypes did not increase comparably. PT4 is associated predominantly with poultry and eggs and the number of food poisoning outbreaks linked to eggs also showed a marked increase in 1988. Provisional data now available show that up to the end of 1988 there were 60 outbreaks of salmonella food poisoning involving about 1,600 people in England and Wales attributed to the consumption of eggs. These figures probably underestimate the number of people affected.
410WI will reply separately on outbreaks of food poisoning associated with chickens.