The number of people in England struck by salmonella poisoning after eating contaminated food has reached its highest level for a decade.

There were 10,406 laboratory-confirmed cases last year of non-typhoidal salmonella, the type of the bacteria found in contaminated foods such as meat, poultry and eggs.

That was 26% up on the 8,242 cases in 2016 and just above the 10,389 in 2024. The rate of salmonella infection has also increased over that time from 14.9 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 17.8 per 100,000 in 2025.

The UK Health Security Agency, which released the figures, highlighted the consistently high numbers of people with food poisoning caused by salmonella and campylobacter, another bacteria.

The agency urged people to practise good hygiene habits to reduce their risk of suffering the debilitating gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhoea and vomiting as well as a high temperature, caused by bacteria in contaminated food.

Although the number of cases of campylobacter infections fell year-on-year from 70,392 to 69,394, the UKHSA said they remained stubbornly high.

Dr Gauri Godbole, the UKHSA’s deputy director for gastrointestinal infections, said: “We are seeing consistently high levels of gastrointestinal infections in England. These infections spread in many ways – through contaminated food or water, contact with an infected person or contact with infected animals or their environment.

“Washing hands thoroughly with soap and water, particularly after using the toilet, handling raw meat, eating, and contact with animals or farms, can help prevent infection.”

Foodborne outbreak data that the agency published on Thursday shows that outbreaks of 13 types of salmonella bacteria during 2025 left 269 people unwell. Thirty-three needed to be admitted to hospital for treatment but none died.

Four of the outbreaks occurred across England as a whole. The sources of the other outbreaks included four restaurants, a takeaway, a hospital, a nursery and a prison, all of which were unnamed.

Children aged up to nine are most affected by salmonella and the bacteria affects men and women equally. The highest number of cases occurred in September, the UKHSA figures show.

Salmonella and campylobacter infections are usually the result of eating contaminated foods such as poultry, meat, eggs, raw fruit or vegetables and unpasteurised milk products. But infection can also result from close contact with someone who is infected or cross-contamination in the kitchen, for example by using the same utensils for raw and cooked food.

Listeriosis, another infection, last year killed 28 of the 181 people infected by it and also resulted in 13 stillbirths or miscarriages. It is an infection caused by listeria bacteria, which is associated with consuming contaminated raw, chilled or ready-to-eat foods.

While most people who get listeriosis have no symptoms or a mild stomach upset, it can seriously affect older people, those whose immune system is compromised and people with underlying health conditions. In pregnancy it can also cause stillbirth, miscarriage and make babies very unwell.

Dr James Cooper, the Food Standards Agency’s deputy director of food policy, said the FSA and the UKHSA were looking into the reasons cases of salmonella and campylobacter remained so high.

He advised that people buying food in cafes and restaurants use the FSA’s food hygiene ratings when deciding where to eat, and follow the four Cs of food hygiene: chilling, cleaning, cooking and avoiding cross-contamination.