Crusading Professor Richard Lacey today launched his most stinging broadside yet at food producers.

The renowned Yeadon microbiologist claims microwaved hamburgers and cook-chill foods can harbour deadly bugs.

Prof Lacey - who was the first scientist to speak out on the BSE threat - catalogues alleged food industry cover-ups in his new book, Poison On A Plate.

He says there are devastating dangers which in the food we eat. Prof Lacey believes:

People are still being deceived about CJD, the human form of mad cow disease.

Microwaving a hamburger for the recommended time will not kill off harmful bacteria.

The temperature at which cook-chill food is stored breeds E.coli and listeria.

Genetically engineered food is gambling with the nation's health.

And he accuses the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) of failing to protect public health by siding with the food industry and obscuring the facts behind food scares.

Prof Lacey says genetically modified food could have catastrophic long-term effects.

"It could poison various organs in people, cause environmental havoc and increase parasitic diseases," he said.

"For example, a type of oil seed rape has been developed that is not vulnerable to weedkiller which means you can spray it to kill all the weeds.

"The problem is that some of the weedkiller will inevitably be absorbed into it and no one knows what effect that could have."

Prof Lacey, who was Professor of Microbiology at Leeds University until retirement this year, worked on the book for 12 years.

Part of it is autobiographical, part gives the background to recent food health scares and part gives consumer advice on how to eat safely.

A MAFF spokesman this week rejected Prof Lacey's claim it sided with the food industry.

He said an increasing importance had been placed on protecting public health in the past 18 months.

"The emphasis has changed with the new Government in that they have said the primary aim for this department is to protect public health and that decisions should be made on that basis."

But the spokesman said MAFF agreed with Prof Lacey about the importance of temperature in food.

It always advised consumers to cook food properly in order to kill any bacteria.

And he added: "It is not in the manufacturers' interests to give their customers food poisoning."

Poison On A Plate is published today by Metro at £12.99.

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