Collective failure to hit campylobacter targets revealed
A review of targets published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) three years ago has revealed 2013 targets for campylobacter levels in chickens have not been hit. Statistically, hardly any improvement has been recorded, bearing out warnings of former British Poultry Council chief executive Peter Bradnock in April.
It is now likely the 2015 target, set in consultation with regulators, ministers, the poultry industry and retailers in 2010, will be revised up, not down. It is believed the revised proposals will be included in a report for consideration by the FSA’s board in September.
FSA chief scientist Dr Andrew Wadge will report on progress with the Campylobacter Risk Management Programme at the FSA’s board meeting today [July 16] when he presents his annual report.
‘Hasn't been a significant change’
Speaking at a Royal Society for Public Health Conference, Bob Martin from the FSA’s Hygiene and Microbiology Division, said “We estimated by this year we would be down to 19% … and by 2015 we’d be down to 10%. Unfortunately we have done a whole year’s monitoring now and there hasn’t been a significant change from that 27%.”
A lot of the improvements were expected to come from the impact of improved biosecurity on farms, but the measures that have been taken so far haven’t delivered the benefits the FSA expected.
The failure to hit the target for the most highly infected chickens is especially troubling for the industry because the risk of human infection directly relates to the amount of contamination on raw poultry.
Countries which have reduced the amount of campylobacter on birds – such as New Zealand - have then witnessed a reduction in human cases.
There are three categories of contamination levels and, in 2010, 27% of birds were in the highest category.
Reduction of up to 30%
The aim was to reduce the numbers of these most contaminated birds in UK poultry houses from 27% to 10% by 2015. It was estimated that could mean a reduction in campylobacter food poisoning of up to 30% – about 111,000 cases a year.
Documents published by the FSA at the time, stated that “progress towards the 2015 target would be reviewed in 2013 against an expected reduction in the most contaminated chickens … from a baseline of 27% in 2008 to 19% by 2013".
"The 2015 target [10%] will be reviewed in light of progress achieved by 2013 and available evidence to see what further reductions can be achieved”.
Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK. According to the FSA, it was responsible for more than 371,000 estimated cases in England and Wales in 2009, resulting in more than 17,500 hospitalisations and 88 deaths.
It accounts for a third of the cost of the burden of foodborne illness in England and Wales, estimated at more than £583M in 2008.
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