January 17, 2008

New Zealand issues new guidelines to reduce campylobacter
 

New Zealand Food Safety Authority and the Poultry Industry Association have drawn up new guidelines for poultry processing to reduce cases of food poisoning.

New Zealand has the highest rate of campylobacter in the world.

A new code of practise will be applied to all poultry process with a goal to halve the number of campylobacter cases in the next five years, Food Safety Authority said.

The new guidelines are much clearer than the existing one, and allows penalties of suspension and even closure if there is a failure to comply. Despite so, associate professor in public health at the Otago Medical School, Michael Baker, said the authority's effort is inadequate as the problem has reached epidemic proportions.

The Poultry Industry Association is pleased that its work can help to reduce number of campylobacter cases. Executive director Michael Brooks believes that its work has contributed to the consistent decrease of campylobacter cases since March last year.

The new code of practice will be implemented on March 1, 2008.