A new study shows that the antibiotic-resistant bacteria MRSA is sometimes found in meat and poultry available in grocery stores, reports the Detroit News.

Published online Wednesday in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, the study by Wayne State University researchers included 289 raw meat samples from 30 grocery stores in Detroit. Of those, six samples — three chicken, two beef and one turkey — tested positive for MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

"Basically all meat categories have MRSA," said Yifan Zhang, a WSU assistant professor in the department of nutrition and food science. "But the prevalence of this bacteria is not as high as you would find in other food-borne bacteria, like salmonella."

Even so, Zhang said people can get infection from handling the food if they have a wound or cut on hand or skin and don't wear gloves. She advised cooking meat well to kill off the MRSA bacteria before consumption.

Source: Detroit News