EU agrees plans to eradicate salmonella

THE biggest cause of food poisoning — salmonella — should be eradicated by the end of the decade, according to plans agreed by agriculture ministers in Brussels yesterday.

Put forward by Commissioner David Byrne, the EU aims to have only salmonella-free eggs on the market by 2010 and chicken meat a year later.

Each year about 160,000 people get food poisoning from the bug and around 200 people die, said Mr Byrne.