Number of victims up by 11, four are still in hospital

ANOTHER 11 people in the Balearics have been hit by salmonella food poisoning caused by contaminated precooked chicken, bringing the total up to 99, the health authorities said yesterday. Seventeen people needed hospital treatment and four are still in hospital.
All the cases occurred in Majorca, although 11 people were taken ill in Minorca to where they had travelled, taking the chicken with them.
The food poisoning was caused by precooked chickens of the brand names Pimpollo and Pollo Asado Sada marketed by SADA, which has traced the source of the problem to a tube dispensing sauce for the chickens. The Balearic health ministry said that the products causing the illness were purchased before the Food Safety Agency ordered them to be withdrawn from the market at the end of last month. The chickens have a shelf life of 30 days. The number of victims nationwide is now 1'700 and the only region not affected is the Canary Islands.
A spokesman for SADA, which is based in Lominchar, Toledo, said that the installations and production lines affected by the outbreak are now being studied and will be replaced.
Digital temperature controls will be installed, he said, adding that even if the health authorities allow the opening of the premises affected, production will not be resumed until the installations have been changed.