Cheerio sausages to blame for children's illnesses

They are as Kiwi as tomato sauce, buzzy-bees and Sir Edmund Hillary, but for the last six weeks uncooked cheerio sausages have been making preschool children in South Christchurch sick.

Dr Alistair Humphrey says the party favourite should always be cooked, and despite being given out to children in butcher’s shops for years, they are not made to be eaten raw.

They are cooked once when they made, but they still need to be heated right through before being eaten to destroy any nasty bacteria.

However, an Auckland butcher of 41 years says he is not about to break with tradition.

The meat industry says the Christchurch outbreak could be just a one off.

The cheerios probably came from one South Christchurch butchery but the health board says its general warning still stands.

source: newshub archive