Supermarkets must publish their Campylobacter action plans

We also have stopped eating chicken.

Have you noticed that nearly all ready meals now contain chicken? We like to keep a few in the freezer and had great difficulty find anything we wanted.

So supermarkets, please can we have more lamb or beef?

alfa, as always, you can eat chicken if you cook it properly.

malcolm,
I had food poisoning from prawns that was rather unpleasant so just the thought of eating chicken containing something that could also make me ill rather puts me off.

alfa, I respect your feelings, but if people understand that apparently cooking chicken properly removes the likelihood of contracting a campylobacter infection then their fears should at least be rationalised. We had the same feelings over beef and BSE, eggs and salmonella. We should simply present the facts and not produce headlines such as “chicken can kill you” without qualification. So can air travel. I still would be very wary about eating chicken not cooked at home though as I’d have no knowledge of how well it was cooked.

I wonder when we will find out whether the campylobacter problem is mainly related to farming or processing of chicken. I believe that the public deserves to know.

It came as a surprise to me that most of the supermarkets are using either 2 Sisters or Faccenda to provide their chicken.

Thanks Sam.
Do you know whether the FSA are also focusing on the processors and importers and whether they will publish results for them also?

The FSA has offered some funding to farmers who want to have their flocks tested. Here is an article on the NFU website: http://www.nfuonline.com/sectors/poultry/nfu-secure-free-on-farm-testing-for-campylobacter/

Hopefully the retailers will see the appeal of being able to advertise chicken from campylobacter-free flocks.

BBSRC is the largest of seven UK research councils that provide research funding for our universities and eight well known research institutes, including funding for training of postgraduate students. A significant amount of BBSRC-funded research is carried out in collaboration with industry. As Beryl has said the BBSRC is involved with the campylobacter problem. BBSRC funds non-medical research and it is quite likely that the MRC (Medical Research Council) will be funding other areas of research. In this case, collaboration with hospitals, particularly teaching hospitals, is likely.

There is some reluctance to use blast chilling and steam treatment to decrease the contamination of carcasses by campylobacter. These make the chicken less appealing to customers. Freezing whole chicken and chicken pieces can decrease contamination significantly (figures vary) but frozen chicken is generally regarded as an inferior product. In fact there is a substantial number of ‘interventions’ that have been found helpful in tackling the problem. If several of these are used together we might make some real progress.

Thanks for that information Wavechange. I was always under the impression that frozen chicken was inferior and decided to test it out by using the Combi setting on my Panasonic Oven and the result was a beautiful succulent full flavoured chicken. The Combi method works by using convection (dry heat) and steam to maintain exact humidity levels, thus giving you more control of the moisture levels in food. It works on the premise for example that when it is 90F outside with high humidity, humans feel hotter than the actual air temperature. The extra humidity transfers heat faster and we noticeably can feel the difference than if it was just 90F outside with zero humidity (dry heat). You have to do a few minor calculations first in order to press all the right buttons and get it right. The meat thermometer I used registered exactly 180F when it finished cooking. I believe this is the safest and best way to cook poultry using frozen chicken and would defy anyone to tell the difference.

As long as your meat thermometer is in the coolest part of the bird, you should be safe, Beryl.

Some of the ‘interventions’ that could help cut down contamination of poultry have been known for some time and used together they could be most effective. The problem is that they cost money, either directly or by slowing down production. Perhaps freezing chicken should be added as one of the interventions. We tend to think of frozen chicken as substandard, but maybe not if there is less risk of campylobacter infection.

Your earlier comment about the extent of contamination depending on country is very interesting, but I have not managed to find out more about this.

The government is putting money into the campylobacter problem via the FSA and the research councils. It’s time for the industry to invest money too. I would be highly impressed by a retailer that was brave enough to say that it would not be selling poultry until the campylobacter problem had largely been overcome.

One of the reasons that I’m so concerned about campylobacter is because a significant part of the population takes proton pump inhibitors or other drugs to suppress acid production. Gastric acid is one of our defences against bacteria, so those taking these drugs are likely to be at more risk. This is well known but not quantified, as far as I can tell.

“It’s time for the industry to invest money too”. Do you know that industry is not investing any money to combat campylobacter?

One retailer is continuing to invest in zero thinning, rapid surface blasting, financial incentives to farmers to achieve campylobacter-free farms, and other methods to introduce interventions that will help reduce its incidence. One processor with its retail partners is investing £10m in combatting campylobacter, another £1m including SonoSteam treatment (high temperature stream combined with ultrasound). They are also contributing to research in combination with other bodies.No doubt Richard Lloyd will report when he receives responses to Which?’s letter.

I see progress needed on two fronts. One, continuing to introduce, now, particular interventions that each will help (but not necessarily eliminate) reduce campylobacter. Two, more fundamental research tackling the source of campylobacter either to prevent its entry into the flock, or to stop it when it is present.

I still want to see imports reported on, and all processors investigated and monitored, to ensure that strict controls are actually enforced throughout the industry. FSA’s job, isn’t it?

Beryl and wavechange, “Your earlier comment about the extent of contamination depending on country is very interesting, but I have not managed to find out more about this.” I Googled “campylobacter in Finland” and “…in Estonia” and “…. in Denmark” and all came up with detailed research papers that I scanned through as a layman.

Certainly flock contamination seems much lower in these countries and there is a suggestion this may be due to lower environmental temperatures and better sealed poultry houses. The routes by which campylobacter reach flocks – e.g. wild birds, travellers, flys, puddles of water – and the rate at which an infected bird can contaminate a whole flock of 20 000 was quite revealing to me. They also adopt a pragmatic approach – keeping negative flocks separate from positive (contaminated) at the slaughterhouse; the former make fresh meat, the latter frozen.

Thanks Malcolm. Temperature is probably a significant factor. In the UK it is well established that both campylobacter in poultry and human infections is higher in the summer months than in winter. It would be interesting to compare contamination of free-range birds farmed in the highlands of Scotland with those from the the south of England.

One of the interventions that looks promising is simply to ensure that chickens are provided with fresh tap water for drinking. The chlorine in tap water helps ensure that it is not heavily contaminated with bacteria. It’s fairly obvious that there should be no source of other water, which could be contaminated, though I have not seen this mentioned.

Free range flocks may have access to rain water (hence the mention of puddles).

That’s my concern. But it would not be difficult to provide good drainage and remove anything that could collect rainwater. The article I read mentioned the need to disinfect the devices used to provide drinking water. It’s not difficult for the layman to understand many of the issues relating to farming and processing chicken to help control the campylobacter problem.

In one of the Conversations, over 1500 people have commented on nuisance calls. It’s a problem we can all relate to and expect sympathy from fellow sufferers.

Most cases of food poisoning are just unpleasant and may never be reported. Even if we feel confident that there is negligible risk in our own homes, there is still a danger when we eat out, the point made by Elvi47 above.

Sadly there is still a widely held belief that our bodies are capable of dealing with campylobacter. To some extent this is true because an infection will result in antibody production.

Passing the time as I’m waiting for lunch, wondered which conversation this was? Which Conversation 2014 lists
2. We’re not fine with nuisance calls – 465 comments. (223 commenters I think).
Still a substantial number. Does the number of commenters reflect the seriousness of the topic? Or our experience of a particular problem?

Click on ‘Most commented’ from the homepage and it’s at the top of the list. The results of the poll are fairly conclusive.

I suspect that many people find Conversations from web searches and when Which? gets a mention on social media, which Which? is promoting to engage with more of the community. A good example is the number of people who post their whinges each time their mobile phone company raises their monthly payment during the contract, useful ammunition for the Fixed Means Fixed campaign.

The only campylobacter discussions I have seen elsewhere seem to relate to people with medical problems rather than how to address the problem of contaminated chicken being sold to the public. Conversations frequently turn up near the top of web searches, so hopefully we will see more input from those who have experienced a campylobacter infection.

Phones do seem to have attracted the most attention in a number of conversations. Strange what we get most uposet about!

I would not be surprised if phones are the the most important possession for most of the population, Malcolm. Have a look at #campylobacter and you will see that a lot is happening on Twitter.

What I want to know is which member of Which? staff dressed up in a chicken outfit and stood outside supermarkets holding a placard and a letter to the chief exec.

Campylobacter is not a subject many people have anything useful to contribute to unless they have been ill with it. Even then they might not know what their food poisoning was. They can still be interested in reading about it though.

No-one has come forward to admit being a chicken yet.

I think it is important not to sensationalise campylobacter. This can be mitigated by understanding the nature of the problem and the actions being taken to tackle it, plus, most importantly, that cooking chicken properly prevents you being made ill. Given this information you might make a rational decision about eating chicken, particularly from a restaurant or take away. Facts are always useful.

It’s not just a case of avoiding chicken from restaurants and takeaways. As has been pointed out by the FSA, contamination is easily spread to cooked food and food that is eaten uncooked.

I was not aware that anyone is sensationalising the campylobacter issue, but it’s far more important not to underestimate the problem.

According to published figures, campylobacter is believed to be responsible for around 280,000 cases. Not all of these are confirmed by testing but on the other hand, it’s well known that may people don’t tell anyone if they are sick.

I would have a great deal of respect for any supermarket that stopped selling raw chicken.

“People are being sold chickens with potentially lethal levels of bacteria” is, I think, a rather inflammatory statement. (Which? petition) Particularly so when not accompanied by relevant facts as to how we mitigate the problem by food hygiene and proper cooking. Perhaps my threshold for the use of selective facts is too low?

At home we can apply appropriate hygiene and cooking techniques which was why I made the comment about being wary of eating chicken from sources outside our control.

Simply explain the problem as it is, not under- or overestimate it. Food poisoning comes from a variety of sources, as alfa above testifies, and includes badly prepared or stored food – again largely avoided by good kitchen practise.

It’s not working, Malcolm. Look at the figures for food poisoning. Most people are aware of the need for good kitchen practice and proper cooking. As Which? says, chicken should be safe before it is sold.

Wavechange, “Which? says, chicken should be safe before it is sold.” is self evident, but this brings us back to the core argument. At present, that situation appears not possible – we can improve it as is happening, but can’t eradicate it. We can, however, take our own precautions, and these should be publicised just as strongly as the other statements being made.

Campylobacter infections have increased by around 10% since 2000 and no one disagrees that we need to continue dealing with the problem. We need to ensure people are given the information needed to prepare food properly, we should monitor cooked-food outlets and we need to keep up the urgency and investment in researching methods to minimise its incidence and in monitoring farms, processors and retailers..

In the end, we can simply choose to stop eating chicken if we are worried about the consequences..

We have had years of procrastination, Malcolm. People are buying chicken contaminated with faeces and it can make them sick, or worse.

In my microbiology labs we would have put anything as contaminated as supermarket chicken in biohazard waste bags for safe disposal by autoclaving. But its still permissible to put chicken that is known to be contaminated on supermarket shelves.

wavechange, i think we’ve both explored our points of view on this. I hope people cook chicken properly and that the current research minimises campylobacter.

We certainly have, Malcolm. Had it occurred to me that food poisoning was within the remit of Which?, I would have been pushing for a campaign long before now. I generally support the Which? campaigns, but feel this is more important than most, in view of the risk of serious illness or worse.

I would be interested to know about forthcoming EU legislation to tackle the campylobacter problem. That could be more effective than the best intentions of retailers.

I don’t know about IBS, but Guillain–Barré syndrome is an uncommon but quite serious problem that can be triggered by a campylobacter infection.

wavechange, do you have a solution to eliminating campylobacter from chicken and other susceptible foods? We could freeze, which I believe eliminates it. But it does not seem so easy to eliminate it at source from what I have read, only to significantly reduce it. That will still leave thorough cooking as the certain destructive force.

Malcolm – The eventual solution to the problem could be to vaccinate chickens to that they are naturally resistant to campylobacter. My understanding is that this is still at the research stage. Even better would be to find a variety of chickens that rarely or never carries campylobacter in the gut, though I have no idea if this is a realistic possibility. In the meantime we probably have to look at a combination of the interventions that have been suggested recently.

We are at greatest risk from highly contaminated birds because we need a certain number of bacteria (the so-called infective dose) to make us ill. My suggestion is that growers, particularly those with free-range chickens that go outdoors, should ensure that the flock has clean water and no opportunity to drink rainwater or other water that could be contaminated with faeces.

Campylobacter is a relatively fragile bacterium and freezing has a significant effect on viability. I have not seen any figures that show what sort of reduction in contamination by campylobacter we could expect from freezing chicken. The rate of freezing has a considerable influence on the survival of bacteria.

Since we are more likely to import frozen than chilled meat, this could account for lower contamination in chicken from other countries.

Malcolm – Although I don’t know very much about campylobacter, I can say with confidence that the effect of freezing on survival of bacteria is dependent on the rate of freezing (and other factors). I’ve had a look at the paper by Mike Hutchinson’s group at Bristol and it’s encouraging to see that under their conditions of freezing of pate at -25°C, the number of viable campylobacter could at best be reduced to about 1% of the original number. It would be interesting to know what effect commercial freezing would have on campylobacter numbers in chicken carcasses.

Farmers having their chickens tested or even doing it themselves was one of the things I had in mind when I suggested that the industry should be invest (more) money in tackling the problem.

The rapid test kits you mentioned are like a pregnancy test but do not quantify campylobacter contamination. Since we know that most chickens carry campylobacter we really need something that operates like a blood glucose test and producing a number rather than just a positive or negative, at least until most campylobacter contamination has largely been eliminated.

Having bought rapid test kits for other purposes when I was working, I know they are usually very expensive. I have not seen the price for campylobacter tests but might be able to find out.

I wonder what testing the FSA is subsidising and to what extent?Certain major retailers are working towards camylobacter-free flocks with financial incentives to farmers.
The attached shows some research in progress at Universities into campylobacter. My take is that this shows the problem is far from simple.
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/research/topical/food/fighting-campylobacter.aspx

This page on the BBSRC website could be improved by putting in links to the grants that have recently been awarded to the universities and research institutes, where each one has a summary of the intended research and possible impact, including links with industry where these are planned.

I don’t know what is happening elsewhere in the EU, but it would make sense for collaborative efforts. The summary of project started two years ago at the University of Leicester refers to forthcoming EU legislation on the number of chickens that are campylobacter-positive.

As you say, the problem is not simple but some aspects such as the interventions that are mentioned on the FSA website are straightforward and not necessarily expensive.

One of the interesting observations made in a 2014 paper by the Liverpool group is that Campylobacter jejuni can significantly affect the health of chickens, despite the widespread view that it is a commensal organism that does not harm the host: “Campylobacter jejuni Is Not Merely a Commensal in Commercial Broiler Chickens and Affects Bird Welfare”

Some caution is needed in interpretation of the recent trials conducted on behalf of M&S. There is the possibility that the recent decline in contamination is simply related to the well established seasonal pattern of contamination – essentially lower in the winter months than in the summer. This is shown in Figure 1 the following article: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/documents/457/The%20seasonality%20of%20human%20Campylobacter%20infection%20a.pdf

Figure 2 of this article shows the association between contamination of chicken and human infection rate.

Much appreciated Andrew. I believe we could have had safe chicken years ago if pressure had been put on the industry. It did not initially seem right to focus on the retailers when the contamination occurs in the growing and processing stages, but it is now obvious that we should expect retailers to sell us food that is safe.

Both feet and ankles are the same size, at long last, so I’m raring to go, albeit cautiously. Thanks for your concern.

I am sure no one is disputing that the interventions introduced by M&S are having a significant beneficial effect. I await future results in warmer weather with interest but find those published so far to be reassuring.

It should be remembered that the original FSA sample sizes varied substantially from one retailer to another – M&S 68, Tesco 607 for example. It would be interesting if a statistian had put confidence limits on the results – at that time M&S had themselves had tested a much larger sample of chickens routinely with better results than the FSA’s. Here though M&S have tested 336 samples.

M&S claim that no other retailer is implementing a holistic programme of this type on a commercial scale. If true, that is worrying.

Meanwhile we will continue to buy M&S chicken and cook it properly. We have an Oakham Rotisserie one in the fridge – double bagged, reared by W.Gamble in Co.Down (anyone know him?). Good value in their Meal Deal.

It is obviously beneficial for retailers to commission their own testing but I would be surprised and disappointed if the FSA published any results other than those from independent testing. I would not trust Which? if their washing machine tests were commissioned by manufacturers or retailers.

I am less sceptical, having worked in industry, of the duplicity of manufacturers. They use, normally, accredited laboratories for testing – we used ones that had UKAS acrreditation for example. These laboratories value their independence and status and would not wish to prejudice that by distorting results. However I suggest Which? could ask M&S just how independent their test results are – from selecting samples to the testing regime and its rigour. Then we will have facts to discuss rather than conjecture. 🙂

I’m not suggesting there is any fowl play Malcolm. For all we know, BRI Camden bought the M&S chicken in retail stores, just as you would do.

I am disappointed that FSA does not publish proper scientific reports of its testing of campylobacter in retail chicken. From those we could see, for example, the number of samples taken per bird, the number of replicate plate counts, and what controls were included.

Patrick started us off with the puns, Andrew. Look back at some of the excruciating puns in some of the early Convo titles and introductions.

I’m glad to hear that you have restored your natural defences to bacteria, Beryl. 🙂 My interest in gastric acid stems from the unexpected discovery in the 1980s that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori was capable of surviving stomach acid and causing ulcers.

I wonder how many of those suffering from campylobacter infections are taking PPIs or earlier acid suppressants such as cimetidine and ranitidine.

On the other hand, every one of the supermarkets tested has failed to meet the target set by the Food Standards Agency for reducing campylobacter contamination. To quote from a BBC article published today: “Richard Lloyd, the executive director of consumer group Which?, said: “It beggars belief that nearly three-quarters of chickens on sale in supermarkets are still infected with this potentially deadly bug and that no retailers have met the FSA’s target.”

If we are going to single out one supermarket it should not be M&S but Tesco, which has continued to produce the lowest figures for high level contamination.

I very much agree that we should be looking at the processors because it is their high speed processing that seems to be spreading contamination. There is also scope for improvement at the farming stage. Simply giving these poor animals uncontaminated water to drink can help control the campylobacter problem.

This is an average over a year apparently, so does not seem to look at whether recent action plans have had any effect. If you look at M&S website their recent figures indicate they achieve half the FSA target. However we have had cold months that will no doubt reduce campylobacter naturally.
I have asked FSA whether they have data by supermarket by quarter, how winter affects data, whether they are going to continue sampling and whether they will sample and inspect the processors.

The latest informationposted by the FSA can be found on their website food.gov.uk and their first qtr report at food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/campylobacter-retail-survey-jul-sept-2015.pdf

I wrote to the FSA last year, criticising the presentation of information to the general public. Figure 2 allows the public to compare the performance of the retailers without getting bogged down in tables of numbers, cfu/g and confidence intervals.

Which has also done a short press release.

The options are to vaccinate the chickens or to vaccinate the humans that eat them. I understand that a human vaccine is undergoing tests. I do hope that the poultry industry can get to grips with the problem, making a vaccine unnecessary.

Hi Gil – You might be interested in this: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2015/poultry_vaccine_development.html