Despite a concerted effort by the poultry industry and the food safety authorities against campylobacter in chicken, the number of people infected by the disease is actually on the rise.
According to Public Health England, the number of people infected in England and Wales in the first 35 weeks of this year was 42,147 compared with 41,083 for the same period last year.
Campylobacter is still the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK. The Food Standard Agency is leading an intensive campaign to make chicken safer after it found that almost three quarters of chicken sold in the UK tested positive for the pathogen.
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UK campylobacter data ‘out of date’, processors suggest
UK poultry processors say they are achieving considerable success in driving campylobacter levels lower, and have suggested data released by the country’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) is out of date.
A number of producers including 2 Sisters Food Group and Bernard Matthews have announced projects to reduce the contamination of their chicken. Earlier this year, the FSA also ‘named and shamed’ retailers with the highest rate of contamination. The agency will publish the result of its next survey in November.