Salmonella in sausages warning

Researchers tested uncooked sausages

Some "economy" sausages contain high levels of salmonella which might not be killed, even if they seem to be fully cooked.

Researchers from the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) issued the warning at their annual conference in Warwick.

Salmonella food poisoning usually lead to a bout of diarrhoea, vomiting and fever, but can prove fatal in elderly or seriously ill people.

Researchers from the PHLS food microbiology laboratories in Bristol analysed 162 packs of uncooked "economy" or catering sausages.

The important message is to ensure food is thoroughly cooked, no matter how much you paid for it

Food Standards Agency spokeswoman

Salmonella was found in 7.5% of frozen sausages and 9.1% of chilled sausages.

In a separate study, they injected salmonella into frozen sausages and barbecued them or fried them in a pan until they seemed cooked.

They then tested the sausages for salmonella.

Although they appeared to be properly cooked, salmonella was still present in some of the sausages.

Barbecues

The scientists, led by Dr Frida Jorgensen, warned food which is cooked too quickly can appear to be ready, but may not have reached the temperature needed to kill the bacteria.

She told Reuters: "If you cook a frozen sausage for six minutes on your barbecue, although it looks cooked it's definitely not enough to destroy the salmonella if they're there."

Dr Jorgensen said sausages should be barbecued for at least 10 minutes.

She added not frying sausages for long enough could also increase the risk of food poisoning.

"Twelve minutes would ensure that you eliminated salmonella but 10 minutes wouldn't."

The salmonella levels found in the sausages were significantly lower than in 1995, when 17% of sausages contained the bacteria.

Dr Jorgensen said this could be because sausage makers were using less chicken meat - thought to be a leading source of salmonella- because it has become more expensive, and therefore more pork in their products.

A spokesman for the Food Standards Agency told BBC News Online it had run a major campaign over the summer highlighting the dangers of not cooking food properly.

She added: "The important message is to ensure food is thoroughly cooked, no matter how much you paid for it."