March 31, 2022

 

UK supermarkets report lower levels of Campylobacter in chicken

 

  

Supermarket Marks and Spencer reported better results for Campylobacter in chicken in the latest quarterly figures from the United Kingdom.

 

The data covers October to December 2021 for nine retailers on high levels of Campylobacter in fresh, shop-bought, UK-produced chickens.

 

Results at Morrisons, Lidl, Waitrose and Sainsbury's went up while Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Co-op, Aldi and Asda recorded lower levels of contamination compared to the previous quarter.

 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) maximum level is 7% of birds with more than 1,000 colony forming units per gram (CFU/g) of Campylobacter.

 

For Marks and Spencer, 5% of chickens were above 1,000 CFU/g in October, 8% in November and 5% in December from a sample of 376 chickens.

 

A total of 13% of chickens were in the maximum category in July, 9% in August and 5% in September from 376 birds sampled. The retailer's results were also above the FSA limit in May and June 2021.

 

Morrisons had 4% of chickens at the top contaminated level from 123 birds tested compared to 1.8 of 112 samples in the third quarter of 2021. For the whole year, from 467 tests, 1.5% had the higher levels of contamination.

 

Lidl recorded 6% of birds in the highest category which is up from 0.5% in the previous quarter.

 

For Tesco, 2% of 275 samples were above 1,000 CFU/g in the fourth quarter of 2021 (4Q) compared to 4% in 3Q.

 

Aldi revealed 3.3% of chickens sampled were in the above 1,000 CFU/g category compared to 6.9% in the past quarter.

 

Asda informed that 2% tested positive for the highest level of contamination in the latest quarter compared to 2.1% in the previous three months. The year-to-date total is 1.7% above 1,000 CFU/g.

 

Co-op results for the final quarter of 2021 show none of the chickens sampled were contaminated at levels greater than 1,000 CFU/g. This is down from 0.9% in the past quarter.

 

Sainsbury's had 3% of 95 chickens sampled above 1,000 CFU/g compared to 1% in the third quarter of 2021.

 

Waitrose and Partners had 1% of chickens testing positive for Campylobacter at levels above 1,000 CFU/g compared to zero in the past quarter.

 

"The key to our good results continues to be the incredible hard work of our farmers and suppliers combined with our own rigorous data gathering and analysis, surveying chicken both at the factory and on supermarket shelves," said a Waitrose and Partners spokesperson.

- Food Safety News