EFSA publish the Campylobacter contamination rates from retailers in the UK

One fifth (18%) chickens showed Campylobacter counts above 1,000 CFU/g.

In total, 1,995 samples of fresh whole chilled chickens have been tested, data shows variations between retailers but none are meeting the end­ of­ production reduction target, said the FSA.

The agency said the food industry, especially retailers; need to do more to reduce the amount of Campylobacter on fresh chicken.

Retail performance:  FSA showed that Supermarket Asda was the worst performing with 78% of skin samples positive for the pathogen out of 312 samples.

Tesco has the lowest rate of samples testing positive with 64% of the 607 samples, 11% above the highest level of contamination and 3% of pack samples contaminated.

The British Poultry Council (BPC) said it viewed the release of retail survey data as another step to reduce the number of cases of food poisoning by raising awareness amongst consumers. The data released from six months of sampling shows that all producers and retailers have levels in the same range. The difference between upper and lower in overall level of Campylobacter in flocks is not statistically significant when examined against confidence intervals. This reinforces how universal and challenging the i

BRC reaction, the executive director, Richard Lloyd, said supermarket bosses should hang their heads in shame. These results are a damning indictment of supermarkets and consumers will be rightly shocked at the failure of trusted household brands to stem the tide of increasingly high levels of Campylobacter. It’s now vital that the industry cleans up its act and works hard to restore consumer confidence. Supermarkets should not only publish effective plans that tackle these scandalously high levels, but also demonstrate they’re taking real action to make chicken safe.

A survey from the consumer group reveals people are concerned about levels of Campylobacter in chicken sold at supermarkets, with the majority saying it is too high. It found six in ten consumers (61%) expressed concern about the high levels; with three­quarters (77%) saying they thought they were too high. More than half (55%) thought that there wasn’t enough information regarding levels of Campylobacter in chicken.

More information: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/campylobacter.htm

http://www.britishpoultry.org.uk/campylobacter-commitment-published/