Reducing Campylobacter remains vital for the UK
Food Standards Agency (FSA) despite no evidence of change since 2008.
C. jejuni remains the most common cause of food
poisoning in the UK, killing around 110 people each year. Out of an estimated
total of around one million cases of foodborne disease each year, C. jejuni is considered to be
responsible for around 460,000 and 22,000 hospitalizations.
Cost at almost $1bn per year: The current estimate of human campylobacteriosis is £900m per year out
of a total of around £1.5bn for all foodborne infections. The most significant
source of Campylobacter with respect to human health is poultry, causing 50-80%
of cases of campylobacteriosis in the UK and other EU countries and the majority
is likely to be linked to raw poultry meat, according to a 2009 EFSA scientific
opinion.
An FSA
survey of chicken on sale in the UK (2007-8) indicated that 65% of chicken at
retail was contaminated with Campylobacter,
this data will be updated with the results of a survey expected in late 2014. The
aim of a joint working group (JWG) formed in 2009 was to reduce the percentage
of the most heavily contaminated chickens, with more than 1000 colony forming
units per gram of chicken (CFU/g) at the end of the slaughter process, from 27%
in 2008 to 19% by 2013, and to 10% by 2015.
The
evidence suggests that it is still appropriate to focus our effort on
UK-produced fresh poultry, in particular retail chicken which constitutes the
largest volume of fresh poultry consumed in the UK.”
Campylobacter cases yearly: Although the number of human cases
of campylobacteriosis in the UK fell by 19% between 2000 and 2004, it has risen
since 2005 and is now higher than in 2000. In 2012 there were 72,571 confirmed
cases in the UK but this is known to be an underestimate due to underreporting.
There is
not a technical “silver bullet” solution to the problem of Campylobacter in chicken, so achieving progress is about cultural
change, said the FSA. Surface antimicrobial treatments (lactic acid, chlorine
compounds and peroxyacetic acid) have been tried in the UK or other countries but none are yet approved for use on
poultry within the EU. FSA cited one example of possible changes to current
practices, with a ‘rapid surface chilling’ process which exposes processed carcasses
to extremely cold gases for a short period of time which has achieved a
significant reduction of Campylobacter.
The process will undergo trials at close to production scale to ensure the
process remains effective and treated birds can be marketed as ‘fresh’ poultry meat
(as opposed to frozen). If successful, it could be available for commercial
installation from 2014.
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