Food Safety New Zealand says a study of campylobacter infection rates is unnecessarily alarmist.

The Public Health Communication Centre claims more than 10 percent of the population contracted the infection from eating chicken in the past few years.

It suggests it's caused 9000 hospitalisations, and at least 60 deaths since 2008. 

Food Safety NZ's Vincent Arbuckle says the numbers are way off. 

"Every time there's a death, the clinician has to determine the primary cause and that goes on record - and the primary cause has been only three cases."

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