The Food Standards Agency has today published the first of its quarterly results for levels of campylobacter contamination in supermarket chickens – we now want to know the best and worst performing shops…
Although most people haven’t heard of campylobacter, its effects can be deadly and debilitating.
The FSA has found that 6 in 10 chickens are contaminated, causing around 280,000 cases of food poisoning a year and 100 deaths.
But unlike salmonella, campylobacter remains mysterious. Many cases are sporadic and the onset of illness can be several days after contaminated food was eaten. There’s also no sign of a vaccine.
Preventing campylobacter contamination
We know that most campylobacter comes from chicken and it is a priority for the FSA, which has been working with retailers and the poultry industry to try to improve controls and bring levels down.
There’s no simple answer, but a lot is now known about what can help reduce the levels of contamination. In particular, more concerted efforts have to be made by the retailers and suppliers to tighten controls and prevent contamination at every point in the rearing and processing chain.
The problem is that this comes at a cost and whilst many people are unaware of the issue, there’s not a huge incentive for food businesses to improve. The FSA used national Food Safety Week to tell people not to wash chicken as this spreads the bug about.
But while heightened consumer awareness is obviously essential, we have been relying on consumers to guard against food industry weaknesses for too long.
Chlorine washes for chickens in the US
In recent years, there has also been a lot of focus on end process treatments, such as chlorine washes that are permitted in the US but not in the EU, as a way of cleaning up chicken at the end of the production line. More acceptable treatments, such as rapid surface chilling, are becoming available but still risk taking the focus away from improving the rest of the production process.
The retailer survey is a welcome move by the FSA but so far it has not published the results by retailer. This is important to help drive up standards and enable consumers to make more informed choices.
The horsemeat incident highlighted the vulnerability of food supply chains. There are many risks and weaknesses that are difficult to anticipate. Campylobacter is a problem that we have known about for many years and it’s time for the FSA to show that it can still be tough and drive improvements across the industry.