Food poisoning alert: 2 dead, hundreds hospitalised due to outbreaks linked to lunch staples and petting zoos over the last year, major report warns

A shocking Government report has revealed the alarming extent of food poisoning outbreaks in the UK over the last year.
This included a wave of deadly E.coli linked to contaminated supermarket sandwiches that killed two, hospitalised more than 100 and sickened nearly 300.
Experts warned that the lettuce in the lunch staple was to blame, as it had likely come into contact with harmful bacteria in water tainted with infected animal faeces.
The specific strain of E.coli responsible for the outbreak is known to trigger bloody diarrhoea as well as a potentially deadly kidney condition called severe haemolytic uraemic syndrome.
Some nine of the 300 sickened developed the lethal kidney disease, in the incident highlighted by the Government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) report.
Meanwhile, petting zoos were said to be behind five more deadly E.coli outbreaks, as well as 13 waves of cryptosporidium infections, a parasite that can cause violent diarrhoea.
One such incident led to 400 people being sickened according to the website Food Safety News.
Last year parents reported children infected with cryptosporidium becoming so ill they needed to be hospitalised.
A shocking Government report has revealed the alarming extent of food poisoning outbreaks in the UK over the last year

Sophie Enright, 14, (pictured) visited a farm with her mum Emma Cleverley, 38, on April 3 last year and became ill with diarrhoea, stomach cramps and vomiting less than a week later

Tom Bayliss, six, and his sister Grace, two, at Hadsham Farm in Horley, Oxfordshire. It’s believed they caught cryptosporidiosis from the lambs in an outbreak last year
Easter and the bank holidays are considered the prime time for cryptosporidium infections due to the number of family farm day events run during this time.
The microscopic parasite cryptosporidium can be contracted from farm animals via contact with their infected faeces, which people accidentally ingest by not washing hands thoroughly.
This can be from the animal itself or via contact with contaminated surfaces like farm gates during a visit.
‘During 2024, some farm visitor attractions were offering cuddling of young lambs and piglets to visitors,’ the report reads.
‘This involves close contact, with potential for clothing and footwear contamination. Activities like these increase the risk of transmission.’
In a separate report, British regulator the Food Safety Agency (FSA) warned that another major E. coli outbreak similar to 2024’s could occur this year.
It comes after UK food safety chiefs declared a major incident in which three people died and two more became unwell, due to a wave of listeria infections.
The dangerous bacteria was found in a chocolate dessert supplied to NHS hospitals
The patients, who were identified between May and December 2024, were aged between 68 and 89, according to the FSA.
Two were in Yorkshire and the Humber, one in the North West, another in the West Midlands, and the fifth was in Wales.
All chilled desserts including ice cream, ice cream cream rolls, mousses and yoghurts supplied by the company to the NHS and care homes have now been recalled as a precaution.
While exposure to tainted food and infected animals are considered the primary route of infection, pathogens can also pass from person to person via contact with bodily fluids.