The jury is still out on the efficacy of antimicrobial treatments (AMTs) used to kill off dangerous pathogens on the surface of poultry. But ‘demonisation’ by some opponents could prevent the adoption of this technology, which is potentially as powerful as pasteurisation, before it ever gets off the ground.
That was the view emerging last week from a conference organised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in advance of its 10th anniversary next month. Consumer resistance to new scientific advances was a subject that emerged several times during the day.
65% of chicken is contaminated
A recent FSA survey showed that 65% of chicken sold at retail was contaminated with campylobacter: one of the most common foodborne bacteria across Europe, which can cause food poisoning. AMTs are seen as a potential way to reduce the risk of this and other bacterial contamination on chicken carcasses.
Studies by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have shown that while in most cases AMTs showed some efficacy, in some it was “very marginal”, reported Robert Madelin, director general of the European Commission’s health directorate DG Sanco.
While tests on these AMTs proved them to be safe, said Madelin, EC ministers refused to approve their use until their environmental impact had been properly assessed. EFSA has been asked to carry out this work.
“Once we get a good data set on the environment, the Commission will have to decide whether it’s safe enough to go back to the Member States,” he said.
‘As revolutionary as pasteurisation’
FSA chief executive Tim Smith agreed that the scientific jury was still out on the use of AMTs. But he raised the possibility of missing out on a technology as revolutionary as pasteurisation proved to be.
“The science isn’t there to support that view just yet,” he said. “We could be on the verge of something; [but] it could be a blind alley that we are chasing up.”
If the efficacy of AMTs is eventually proved, there remains a big obstacle in getting consumers to accept them, he added. “Because no supermarket in this country or any other is going to put antimicrobial treated chicken on the market without testing for their customers first; without knowing that there is broad consumer acceptance.”