The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) chief executive Tim Smith wants supermarkets to provide incentives to their suppliers to reduce the high incidence of Campylobacter in retail chicken.
Reporting to the FSA’s Board meeting last week, Smith acknowledged a “very positive” response from the major retailers’ chief executives following contacts made in December outlining FSA efforts to reduce Campylobacter.
Smith reported that the retailers recognised the importance of their role in tackling the problem. A recent survey carried out by the FSA showed that 65% of chicken sold at retail were contaminated with Campylobacter.
This news came as the European Food Safety Authority’s Biological Hazards panel estimated that handling and consumption of contaminated chicken meat accounted around 20-30% of all cases of campylobacteriosis across the EU. In Europe, campylobacteriosis is the most common infectious disease caused by the Campylobacter bacterium transmissible from animals to humans through food.
Smith would like to see incentives used for chicken suppliers similar to those used in, for example, the dairy sector, where premiums and penalties are imposed on suppliers to encourage high standards. He is proposing the same approach for suppliers of chicken to encourage good biosecurity of flocks on farms and low levels of contamination within processing environments. “I have driven this by my experiences in the dairy industry,” said Smith.
“We sense the time is right for retailers to start to make changes to buying policies, specifications and purchasing strategies which will ensure the speediest, most effective reduction in Campylobacter incidence in their own products,” he reported.
To share the experiences and achievements of other countries in decreasing levels of contamination, the FSA is hosting an international meeting on Campylobacter in March, to which retailers are invited.