Researchers have warned of an insidious form of salmonella that can kill by infecting the bloodstream.
Regular salmonella - often referred to as food poisoning - happens when food tainted with the bacteria is ingested.
The bug can be killed with heat, so it's often caused by the undercooking or improper reheating of any type of food, with some like chicken being particularly risky.
But today, researchers in Taiwan revealed how Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) - which can cause an infection of the blood vessels along with its typical symptoms - can have a particularly severe affect on certain groups.
Researchers at National Cheng Kung University explained how NTS can "invade" the blood vessels of patients with coronary artery disease - a thickening of the arteries caused by plaque build up - which has been recorded in around 50 per cent of 40-year-old patients.
Citing other studies, the scientists found up to 40 per cent of patients aged 50 or over have had NTS bacteria detected in their system, suggesting many are at risk.
Salmonella is a common bacterial infection but one which can be fatal and cause devastating complications.
Following an outbreak earlier this year that lead to product recalls, a family shared how their three-year-old lad "looked dead" after being hospitalised with suspected salmonella poisoning from a Kinder egg.
Little Billy Way, from Barry, Wales, became violently ill after eating his brother's Kinder Surprise chocolate last month.
Mum-of-two Kasey Cooke said doctors feared her boy could fall into a coma due to his dangerously low blood sugar levels.
It comes after Kinder products, including Kinder Surprise eggs, made at a plant in Belgium were recalled over an outbreak of salmonella.
The chocolate factory was forced to close after investigators recorded more than 100 cases of salmonella, including 63 in the UK.
A couple of months later and it emerged a 65-year-old man had died of the illness after eating four duck eggs he bought at a country show.
Niptoon Tavakoli, 65, died in hospital two months after falling ill in June 2019, an inquest jury heard on Monday.
A retired retail manager died from one of the worst cases of salmonella a hospital consultant has seen after eating four duck eggs he bought at a country show, an inquest was told.
His wife, Cheryl, told Doncaster Coroner's Court the pair bought six eggs from a stall at Messingham Show, in North Lincolnshire, during a family day out on June 2.
