Chile Alert of Seafood Contamination

Concern is rising over the contamination of seafood from the vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria.

And this week the Chilean Congress called on the health minister to take action.

The minister Alvaro Erazo said that it is essential to ensure the seafood is cooked and he added that the ministry is to conduct a full scale public information programme to warn consumers of the contamination danger.

"We had noticed a rise in the number of cases through our epidemiological monitoring and hence we have launched this campaign," he said.

The campaign will be seen through a series of advertisements on national and regional television.

The campaign is telling consumers to cook seafood for five minutes to kill the bacteria.

It is also warning consumers to wash their hands after handling the seafood and also to ensure that the food is properly refrigerated when stored.

The health ministry is also calling on restaurants and establishments providing seafood to also ensure it is properly cooked and that they follow the precautionary measures.