Pregnant women who come from ethnic backgrounds and low-income areas have a higher risk of infection from listeria food poisoning, according to research for the United Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency.

The findings are contained in two studies published in the recent edition of Eurosurveillance.

The studies found 1,510 cases of listeriosis in the UK between 2001 and 2008, including 181 in pregnant women.

Of these, almost 40 percent (66 individuals out of 181) were women from an ethnic minority that was established from the first and surname of the patient.  Continue reading at Food Safety News.