Supermarket meat 'could be Super Bug infected'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Supermarket meat 'could be Super Bug infected'*
By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:39am BST 25/06/2007
EU Pork, beef and chicken in supermarkets could be infected with a
strain of MRSA, according to a report today by organic campaigners which
warns that the issue could become "a new monster".
The bacterium is sweeping northern Europe and has already infected one
in five of all pork products on sale in Holland, from where Britain
imports almost two thirds of all its pork, the report claims.
The strain found in Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Germany is different
from MRSA found in British hospitals, which was a contributory factor in
3,800 deaths in 2005.
However, the report by the Soil Association, the organic pressure group,
claims that the bug found in European meat is just as deadly and
infectious. It is resistant to tetracycline antibiotics, the most common
drugs used to cure hospital MRSA.
So far no meat or farm animals in this country have been found to be
infected with the European strain. However, no testing for the microbe
in pork or chicken is done.
Only cattle are tested - the least likely animal to be infected - and
the Food Standards Agency (FSA) does not test any imported meat.
The Soil Association is calling on the Government to start testing for
the superbug in meat as a matter of urgency.
The FSA yesterday said that it was monitoring the situation closely but
added that worried consumers should follow the advice given to avoid
salmonella. "Proper cooking will destroy MRSA," it said in a statement.
The worry, however, is that though the bug is killed by cooking the meat
thoroughly, it is easy to become infected by handling raw meat.
Richard Young, of the Soil Association, said: "It is all very well
cooking the meat well, and washing your hands before sitting down to eat
your meal. All you need to do is scratch your nose while handling the
meat for you to become infected."
Almost half of Dutch pig farmers carry MRSA - a prevalence 1,500 times
higher than in the overall Dutch population. The Netherlands exports six
million pigs a year to its neighbours.
The Soil Association claims that it is only a matter of time before MRSA
is found in domestic meat, and that the heavy use of antibiotics in
British farming makes infection more likely.
A spokesman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs, said: "Antibiotics are vital to protect the health of farm
livestock."
He reiterated that no cases of MRSA had been found in Britain. "Defra
keeps the surveillance of MRSA under active review and surveillance is
prioritised in consultation with colleagues working in the medical
field, bearing in mind the most recent findings relating to humans in
the UK."