The strategy will be discussed by the FSA Board at its meeting in Aberdeen on 11 September.

Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK and is considered to be responsible for about 460,000 cases of food poisoning, 22,000 hospitalisations and 110 deaths each year and a significant proportion of these cases come from poultry.

An FSA survey of chicken on sale in the UK (2007/8) indicated that 65 per cent of chicken on sale in shops was contaminated with Campylobacter.

Reducing cases of Campylobacter is the FSA’s top food safety priority but monitoring carried out by the FSA shows there is no evidence of change in the proportion of the most highly contaminated chickens since 2008.

Samples for this monitoring were taken from chickens at the end of processing (post-chill) in UK slaughterhouses and tested to determine the level of Campylobacter present on the skin.

The new strategy to be presented to the board outlines how the FSA will:

• improve the amount and quality of information about Campylobacter levels that is available at all stages of the supply chain, to support and incentivise more effective risk management
• address regulatory barriers to the adoption of safe and effective technological innovations for reducing Campylobacter risks at all stages in the food supply chain
• work with local government partners and others to raise awareness of Campylobacter and ensure that food businesses using chilled chicken are aware of the risks and managing them appropriately
• continue and increase our support to research programmes into vaccination and other possible long term interventions to address the issue
• drive changes in behaviour and approach, using tools including regulation if appropriate

The FSA expects industry to focus its actions to:

• continue to improve the effectiveness of biosecurity measures on farms to prevent flock colonisation with Campylobacter
• ensure that steps involved in slaughter and processing are effective in preventing contamination of carcases
• continue to work on packaging and other initiatives that reduce cross contamination in the consumer and food service kitchen
• develop and implement new interventions that reduce contamination when applied at production scale

Catherine Brown, FSA Chief Executive, said: “What we have proposed in this paper is a shift in culture and a refocusing of effort by both government and the food industry to tackle this persistent and serious problem.

“While we remain committed to joint working with industry we want to encourage and see producers, processors and retailers treat Campylobacter reduction not simply as a technical issue but as a core business priority – and I see some encouraging signs of that happening.

“I feel that because this is a complex and difficult issue there has tended to be an acceptance that a high level of contamination will inevitably occur and that there’s little that can be done to prevent it.

“The FSA doesn’t believe this is the case and this paper sets out how together we can make progress towards reducing the number of people who get ill from Campylobacter.”

British Poultry Council comment on the FSA strategy

In response, the British Poultry Council (BPC) commented: “We share the concern of the FSA about the issue of campylobacter reduction and the industry fully recognises its responsibility to deliver safe food to consumers. We have worked with the FSA, DEFRA, BRC and the NFU since 2009 through the Joint Working Group [JWG] on a reduction plan and the partnership approach of the JWG has been very successful in driving industry-wide efforts.

“Over 70 projects and scientific research in several areas have been trialled, including further on-farm biosecurity measures and specific slaughterhouse interventions. While much new information has been obtained through these projects, more work is required to find a consistent means of reduction.

“Overall, our knowledge of campylobacter has greatly increased and there are promising signs that certain actions across the poultry supply chain will contribute to meaningful reductions,” said the BPC.