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Is a problem shared a problem halved?

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I’m not sure whether to be reassured or despondent at the results of the Republic of Ireland's latest campylobacter in chicken survey. The results show 84% of shop bought chicken is contaminated with campylobacter and of these, 67% is C. jejuni and 32% C. coli (the main types that cause illness in people).

When the same survey was carried out across the UK a couple of years ago, we found that 65% of chicken in the UK was contaminated with campylobacter. It’s reassuring to know that the UK isn’t the only one facing the challenge of reducing campylobacter, but the universal nature of the problem also highlights that there isn’t going to be a simple solution.

We are working with the UK poultry industry and retailers on an integrated farm-to-fork approach, to identify and implement a range of interventions to reduce campylobacter in chicken. More information can be found on our website. What is clear from these and other surveys, for instance, the EFSA survey of broilers carried out in 2008, is that campylobacter is a Europe-wide problem and we also need to tackle it at the European level. In that light it’s encouraging that EFSA recently published a favourable risk assessment on the use of lactic acid on beef carcasses, and that such tools may in the future be permitted in Europe to tackle the problem of campylobacter on chicken carcasses and improve public health.

I’m hoping that we will soon start seeing positive results from this and, of course, our own campylobacter risk management programme. With a lot of hard work and a bit of luck maybe we'll be able to replicate the success we’ve had reducing salmonella (now found on just 7% of chicken at retail).


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