10.09.2015
Nearly threequarters (73%) of fresh supermarket chicken tested positive for the presence of campylobacter during the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) yearlong survey. The final report contained data sets of the results from all of the retailers included in its survey and featured comparisons between different sized birds.
Campylobacter fullyear results:
19% of chickens tested positive for campylobacter within the highest band of contamination*
73% of chickens tested positive for the presence of campylobacter
0.1% (five samples) of packaging tested positive at the highest band of contamination
7% of packaging tested positive for the presence of campylobacter
* more than 1000 colony forming units per gram (>1000 cfu/g).
Campylobacter is a foodborne pathogen responsible for around 280,000 cases of food poisoning every year in the UK. The agency has identified the pathogen as its leading food safety priority and has been working closely with the food industry to reduce the levels of contamination on raw chickens.
The FSA is now moving ahead with its next retail survey to track progress and provide an indication of where these
interventions were delivering results. The first set of results from the new FSA survey, that commenced in July 2015, is expected to be published in November 2015.
Chicken contamination with campylobacter accounts for about four in five cases of the most common form of food poisoning. Although the bacteria can be killed through cooking, they make about 280,000 people in the UK sick each year, with thousands needing hospital treatment, and about 100 people a year dying.