in mind: Australian doctors have issued a warning that undercooked kangaroo meat could carry a disease whose effects can range from mild influenza to spontaneous abortions and even potential death.

The warning followed an outbreak of the toxoplasmosis disease in late 1994, when rare kangaroo meat was eaten by a group of people at a Christmas party in a restaurant in Brisbane.

A study of the outbreak that was reported in the latest edition of the Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal said the disease was evident in 12 people who attended the function, including a pregnant woman who went into premature labour.

The study by a group of Queensland doctors could not confirm the source of the toxoplasmosis outbreak but said kangaroo meat was the most likely source.

"A number of respondents particularly recalled the kangaroo meat as being extremely rare and `oozing with blood,''' the doctors said in the report received by the Reuters news agency this week.

The doctors said that kangaroo meat was unlikely to contain more of the disease than other meats, but said the disease was more viable in kangaroo because it was often served very rare.

Kangaroo meat was rendered safe if cooked at 142 degrees Fahrenheit for four minutes, they said.

Cats are the only known host of the parasite that causes the disease but a wide range of animals and man are susceptible to infection as intermediate hosts.

The report said Australian marsupials like the kangaroo were highly susceptible to infection because they evolved in the absence of this parasite until European settlement in Australia introduced the domestic cat about 200 years ago.

*** Further on the topic of food that's decidedly bad for you, British retailer Marks and Spencer had to withdraw thousands of sandwiches from its stores in the United Kingdom this week because of a food poisoning scare.

M&S said sandwich-maker Henry Telfer Ltd., part of food group Hillsdown Holdings Plc, had warned last week that potential traces of salmonella had shown up in routine checks.

M&S immediately withdrew all Telfer's sandwiches from its stores around the country, saying: "We are confident they are long gone from our shelves and destroyed.'' The company added that Telfer makes about a third of M&S's sandwiches in Britain.

Although there were no reports of staff at the factory or any customers falling ill, staff were being screened this week and raw materials and the plant itself were being carefully checked.

For its part, Telfer said it had taken a number of precautionary measures after a routine quality check found a potential presence of salmonella.

Subsequent tests at the factory, which closed last week, showed all products were completely within specification, Telfer told the Press, adding: "Normal production will be resumed only when all our investigations are complete and we are fully satisfied it is safe to do so.'' *** According to a recent Louisiana study, those few extra pounds pose little risk for people 70 and older -- it's the too-thin elderly that may be putting themselves in danger.

Using a formula based on height and weight, researchers found the risk of mortality to be high in underweight adults.

The risk rose sharply the leaner they were.

It was not clear why thinness was associated with greater mortality.

The researchers excluded from the study older people who were known to have diseases that would cause them to lose weight.

"For the person 20 pounds overweight, the risk is not there,'' said one of the study's authors, Dr. Steven Heymsfield of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York. On the other hand, he said, "if you're underweight and elderly, be concerned. It might be wise to get checked.''