July 19, 2007

 

Stricter salmonella rules for chicken farms worry UK farmers

 

 

The UK is aiming to reduce cases of the two most dangerous salmonella strains in its eggs by 10 percent per year for the next three years, according to European Commission targets.

 

This will mean mandatory sampling and testing on farms, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

 

Starting 2009, eggs from infected flocks must be heat-treated to kill any salmonella before they can be sold. This includes farms with salmonella found anywhere on the premises, not just on or in the egg.

 

Defra has launched a public consultation on its National Control Programme for salmonella in poultry laying flocks.

 

Although targets for salmonella reductions are set at European level, each country develops its own framework for achieving them.

 

The UK's chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds said salmonella in flocks is already low in the UK and the National Control Programme would achieve even greater reductions.

 

Recent tests showed salmonella enteritidis or salmonella typhimurium were present on 8 percent of UK farms which have laying flocks, one of the lowest levels in Europe.

 

In 2003, only one in every 290 boxes of half dozen eggs had salmonella contamination on the shells. This had dropped from one in every 100 boxes during a 1995 survey.

 

Charles Bourns, chair of the National Farmers' Union poultry board, said while most farmers are not worried about having salmonella in eggs, they are worried over salmonella in the environment as it is something they do not have much control over, Bourns said.

 

Heat-treated eggs would be one-sixth of the price of normal eggs. Even then, there is not much of a market for it, he added.