Chicken liver – often used in pate – is a key source of food poisoning, according to an analysis by UK public health experts published yesterday.
Some 1,595 people have been affected by food poisoning from campylobacter bacteria linked to poultry in the last 14 years.
In 80% of these cases, the victims fell ill after eating chicken liver dishes.
Chicken liver is often used for gourmet dishes, such as chicken liver parfait.
The others suffered from eating undercooked chicken, according to the Public Health England analysis.
The findings were published for Food Safety Week this week.
They represent a fraction of the 60,000 confirmed cases of campylobacter infection each year.
Dr Bob Adak, of PHE, said: "There are more gastrointestinal infections caused by campylobacter than any other bacteria. This is not something particular to England but is a pattern seen around the world.
“Out of a number of possible risk factors the greatest by far is eating or handling poultry meat which is why we are urging people during Food Safety Week to pay attention to how they store and handle chicken and other poultry meat at home."
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