IT'S a potential killer, it's on the increase - and it's waiting in every kitchen in the country.

Food poisoning claims lives every year and peaks in June and July, just as we happily take our food into the garden for a barbecue.

And in National Food Safety Week, members of Bolton Environmental Health Services are especially keen to get the message across that food preparation and cooking need special care. The consequences otherwise could be deadly.

Last year alone, there were around 83,233 cases of food poisoning notified nationally.

To blame are three main types of germ:

Salmonella can cause vomiting, stomach pains, high temperature and diarrhoea. It's often food-borne, but it can also be spread from other people with the illness, especially if they have diarrhoea.

Campylobacter can cause diarrhoea, stomach pains, sickness and a high temperature. It can be caught from contaminated food, milk or water, or from exposure to infected farm animals or sick pets.

E.Coli 0157 is a common bacteria found in the gut of humans and animals, normally causing no harm. But, its presence in ready-to-eat cooked food suggests either inadequate cooking or cross-contamination. It can cause dangerous diarrhoea, leading to possible kidney damage and even death. This has been linked to a number of outbreaks of food poisoning over the last five or six years.

The most recent was in Scotland where the deaths of victims was linked to cooked meat products.

Bolton had 188 Compylobacter cases last year, 160 Salmonella cases and 2 cases of E.Coli.

But, it is E.Coli that could be a killer this Summer.

We eat more raw, uncooked food at this time of year. And those barbecue favourites beefburgers and sausages need to be cooked through thoroughly, and at a sufficiently high temperature to ensure they pose no threat. This is because, in minced and ground meat, any contamination will have been spread throughout the mass.

So, thorough cooking right through to the centre is vital - if you don't want that enjoyable family gathering to turn into another worrying statistic.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.