More than 70% of chicken being sold in UK supermarkets are contaminated with campylobacter, according to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) statistics.
The FSA has announced cumulative results from the first two quarters of its year-long survey of campylobacter on fresh chicken.
The 12-month survey, which will run through February 2015, will test 4,000 samples of whole chicken bought from retail outlets and smaller independent stores and butchers across the country.
FSA has, so far, tested 1,995 samples of fresh whole chilled chicken.
The results indicate about 18% of chickens testing positive for campylobacter above the highest level of contamination; 70% of chickens testing positive for the presence of campylobacter; and 6% of packaging testing positive for the presence of campylobacter with only one sample at the highest level of contamination (>1,000 cfu/g).
FSA Policy director Steve Wearne said: "These results show that the food industry, especially retailers, need to do more to reduce the amount of campylobacter on fresh chickens.
"Although we are only half-way through the survey, 18% of birds tested had campylobacter over 1,000 cfu/g, the highest level of contamination, and more than 70% of birds had some campylobacter on them.
"This shows there is a long way to go before consumers are protected from this bug."
In order to reduce campylobacter levels, Asda and its supplier, Faccenda, have employed a new steam technology known as
SonoSteam that has shown promising results in tests and is now being installed at the Faccenda factory for full scale, in line trials.
Meanwhile, several other retailers have introduced roast in the bag chickens which help limit cross-contamination by minimising the handling of the raw chicken in the home.
