HEALTH MINISTER EATS BURGER TO CALM BUG FEARS

HEALTH MINISTER EATS BURGER TO CALM BUG FEARS

(ANSA) - Rome, June 17 - Italian Health Minister Ferruccio Fazio ate a hamburger in public Friday to reassure consumers amid an E. coli bacteria scare in France.

"As long as these patties are cooked at the proper temperature there's absolutely no risk," Fazio told reporters.

Overnight Italian food-hygiene police in Verona seized 1,500 hamburgers ready for distribution by the German-based supermarket chain at the centre of the scare, LIDL.

French health authorities on Thursday ordered a recall of LIDL patties after five children were infected by the E. coli bacteria.

Health authorities said there was no immediate sign of a link with the recent deadly E. coli outbreak in Germany.