Campylobacter is a food bug responsible for around 280,000 cases of food poisoning every year in the UK. Food Standards Scotland (FSS) research has shown that 60 - 80% of Scottish campylobacter cases are linked to a chicken source.
FSS considers the reduction of campylobacter levels found in chickens as an important food safety priority in terms of protecting public health and is working with others, including the Food Standards Agency (FSA), key stakeholders and consumers, to reduce campylobacter infection in the Scottish population.
Today, the FSA has published the first set of results from the second year UK-wide survey on fresh shop bought chickens. The 1032 samples collected between July to September 2015 show a decrease in the number of birds with the highest level of contamination compared to the same period last year.
The key findings are:
- 15% of chickens tested positive for campylobacter within the highest band of contamination*
- 76% of chickens tested positive for the presence of campylobacter
- 0.3% of packaging tested positive at the highest band of contamination
- 6% of packaging tested positive for the presence of campylobacter
*More than 1,000 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g). These units indicate the degree of contamination on each sample.
As with the previous survey, the data shows variations between the retailers, with Co-op and Waitrose showing the most significant reductions in the proportion of the chickens in the highest band of contamination.
Elspeth Macdonald, Deputy Chief Executive of Food Standards Scotland said:
“Reducing illness caused by campylobacter in chicken is a priority for FSS. We welcome the encouraging results reported today showing that some retailers seem to be getting on top of this, and we echo the FSA’s call for all retailers to pull together to deliver real and lasting reductions that will help to improve public health.”
FSS continues to advise Scottish consumers that chicken is safe to eat as long as good kitchen practice is followed to help avoid cross-contamination, and chicken is cooked thoroughly.
Further information on these results can be found here.