August 8, 2014

According to the Food Standards Agency in the UK, 59% of chickens have tested positive for Campylobacter based on first-quarter results from a survey on fresh whole store-bought chickens and associated packaging.

Catherine Brown, the chief executive of FSA, said that the survey "will give us a clearer picture of the prevalence of Campylobacter on raw poultry sold at retail and help measure the impact of interventions introduced by producers, processors, and retailers to reduce contamination."

The survey runs from February 2014 to February 2015 and will test 4,000 samples. The first quarter included 853 samples.

When first announcing the survey, FSA stated that the agency would published findings at a store-specific level - to "name and shame" supermarkets and processors. In late July, the agency put the action on hold as it decided to wait for the full conclusion of the survey before publishing all the names by next summer.

The decision has upset Which?, a consumer organisation calling for FSA to stick to its initial plan "so that consumers are aware of the best and worst performing shops."

Campylobacter is the most common form of food poisoning in the UK, affecting around 280,000 people yearly. FSA estimates that four of five cases come from contaminated poultry.

UK officials hope that interventions such as better biosecurity on farms, rapid surface chilling and antimicrobial washes will help reduce the pathogen's prevalence.