The Food Standards Agency (FSA) plans to publish quarterly results of tests for campylobacter on November 27 as part of an annual sampling programme launched in February.
Figures for the first three months of the programme indicated that six out of 10 samples of raw chicken, the major source of the problem, were contaminated with the food bug.
But FoodManufacture.co.uk understands that outcome will be eclipsed by even worse data this time, with one source suggesting as many as nine out of 10 samples had been tainted.
“What seems clear is that the results were appreciably worse, because [when samples were taken] it was the summer period,” said an industry insider.
However, they added: “I would have expected that to be the case, partly because of the time of year.” Warm weather creates a more favourable environment for germs to thrive.
Reeling
The news will again rock shoppers’ faith in the top supermarkets, which are still reeling from last year’s horsemeat scandal.
The FSA is also expected to reveal that for some samples, the outside of packaging was contaminated with campylobacter. National press reports claim it will advise consumers to double-bag chicken in the fridge, separating it from other foods.
A storm has been brewing over campylobacter for a while, with the FSA originally proposing to publish first-quarter test results highlighting each supermarket’s record individually.
However, retailers reacted with dismay to what they saw as a ‘name and shame’ campaign and the FSA decided to hold off until it could draw on more robust data.
It can now base findings on six months of sampling and has announced its aim to pursue its original plan.
That has provoked tension between the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents UK retailers, and FSA ceo Catherine Brown.
In a report to the FSA board aired during its meeting on November 5, Brown responded to a BRC letter enquiring about its plans, saying: “It is disappointing that the BRC … has written to us again pressing us not to reveal the results of the retail survey and seeking to call into question the validity of the sampling plan, which they were consulted about before the survey commenced.”
For its part, the BRC said it had written to the FSA merely to confirm “that there was evidence behind the survey results which would give consumers clear information”.
Frustrated
Some food safety professionals have become frustrated at the slow progress being made by retailers to eradicate campylobacter contamination in stores.
Manufacturers have announced over the past 18 months millions of pounds worth of investment to stamp the bug out. Many experimental solutions are deemed too expensive.
Jeremy Hall, group technical director at poultry giant Bernard Matthews, has stated that one method – Rapid Surface Chilling – would add 4-5p to the cost of a bird. He made the claim at Food Manufacture Group’s Food safety conference last month.
Consumer group Which? has launched a ‘Make chicken safe’ campaign, pressing the industry to do more to communicate its efforts to tackle campylobacter.
The bug is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhoea and the pathogen is responsible for an estimated 100 deaths a year.
- The Joint Working Group (JWG) on Campylobacter, composed of representatives from government, retail and manufacturing, has launched a website allowing consumers to track its progress in tackling the bug. “The campylobacter website is a significant step forward in our ongoing efforts to reassure consumers we are working hard to tackle campylobacter,” said JWG chairman Richard Macdonald, former director general of the National Farmers Union.