The calls come after a documentary commissioned by the Soil association was released yesterday (Friday, March 20), showing the rise of a new strain of MRSA in pigs in Europe.

Filmed in the Netherlands, the film found that 40 per cent of Dutch pigs and up to 50 per cent of Dutch pig farmers are now carrying the new strain.

The Soil Association claims it is being encouraged by the use of antibiotics and has called on the UK Government to publish results of a study into MRSA to show how widespread it is in the UK herd.

While no live pigs are imported to the UK from Holland, the Soil Association warned the virus could come into the UK through imported meat.

Richard Young, Soil Association policy adviser said: "The British Government has buried its head in the sand and is wasting a critical opportunity to prevent farm-animal MRSA getting a hold in the UK. Decisive action could reduce risks to human health, costs to the NHS and avoid another potentially devastating food-safety crisis.

“This new type of MRSA is spreading like wildfire across Europe, and we know it is transferring from farm animals to humans – with serious health impacts.

“The Government has to wake up and start looking after the interests of ordinary people and not just the intensive livestock industry and international drug companies.”

Despite the stark warning, scientific evidence shows the risk of MRSA transferring from meat to humans is not high, and the Food Standards Agency has refused to carry out a mass testing programme.

The use of farm antibiotics and its potential impact on human health also came under fire in Liam Donaldson, the UK's chief medical officer's annual report on the state of the nation's health last week.

He noted ‘very large' quantities of antibiotics were being used in agriculture and warned antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animals could pose a threat to human health.

The NFU responded to the claims saying the industry took the matter seriously and in fact had seen a drop in the use of antibiotics.

In a statement it said: “The most recent Veterinary Medicines Directorate sales report on the volumes of antimicrobials purchased for use in the UK during 2007 showed that there was a decrease in sales of products for 'food-producing animals' of 21 tonnes.

“This demonstrates a responsible use of antibiotics by livestock farmers and their veterinary advisers which must be commended.”