admin – Campylobacter – Joint Working Group

Faccenda Foods to implement SonoSteam technology

admin — Thu, 28 May 2015 08:29:00 +0000

Faccenda Foods to implement SonoSteam technology after successful trial

SonoSteam technology to move to continuous running

Over 80% reduction in Campylobacter proven during in-line trials

£1m investment in SonoSteam is one element of a comprehensive Campylobacter plan

Brackley, UK – Faccenda Foods, one of the UK’s leading food companies, has confirmed that its extensive in-line trials with SonoSteam technology have been successful and the next phase of its implementation, continuous running, will start in June 2015. Results from the SonoSteam trials have shown more than an 80% reduction in Campylobacter on the neck and breast skin of fresh, whole chickens; measured at the point in time when the consumer would typically purchase and cook the chicken.

Faccenda Foods is the first UK poultry producer to invest in SonoSteam technology and conduct comprehensive, full scale in-line trials. The £1m commitment to the technology is just one element of a comprehensive plan that touches every link in the Faccenda supply chain. The SonoSteam equipment was installed and commissioned in December 2014, and trials have been completed every week from January to May 2015 enabling performance to be refined. The excellent results from this intensive trialling process means Faccenda are now ready to move to the next phase of fully integrated continuous running, before the end of June.

SonoSteam kills Campylobacter and other micro-organisms on the skin of chickens through the simultaneous application of both steam and ultrasound, a process that takes just 1.5 seconds. Sonosteam is so effective because the process is consistently applied to every single bird. As well as being extremely effective, using only steam and ultrasound limits the environmental impact of the advanced technology.

Faccenda Foods Managing Director Andy Dawkins said: “While the industry is agreed that there is no silver bullet to solve the Campylobacter problem, we are very excited by results from our in-line trials which proves that SonoSteam will work in the real world. There is still a great deal of work for us all to do but, as part of our wider Campylobacter Action plan, I’m in no doubt that SonoSteam will help us significantly reduce levels of Campylobacter and improve food safety for consumers.”

SonoSteam Vice President Niels Krebs said: “It’s important not to underestimate just how challenging it was to successfully conduct a technology trial in-line. The investment so far has been very significant but the results show it has been worth it. Faccenda Foods now has a proven, intervention which is ready to operate on a continuous basis and which can be applied to every chicken on the line. Importantly, the in-line trials have proven that SonoSteam can be a key technology in helping the poultry industry significantly reduce the risk from Campylobacter.”

SonoSteam is another first for Faccenda Foods, having previously led the industry with its award-winning Roast in the Bag products, developed in partnership with Asda. The innovative packaging means consumers can put the product straight in the oven without having to handle any raw chicken, taking food safety in the kitchen to another level.

The Food Standards Agency has been a keen supporter of both of these innovative approaches to tackle Campylobacter which demonstrate Faccenda’s multimillion pound commitment to tackling the problem at all points of the supply chain to achieve the 2015 Campylobacter Reduction Target.

Retail Survey Results: Q4

admin — Thu, 28 May 2015 08:22:05 +0000

The FSA has today published the 4th quarter results of its year-long retail survey. The press release can be viewed on the FSA website.

Organisations that have issued a response or statement to the report are below (more links will be added through the day):

British Poultry Council

ACT Board Continues to Fight Campylobacter

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:47:41 +0000

Chair of the ACT Board, Richard MacDonald, described the work on fighting campylobacter as “significant” following the group’s second meeting. He said: “The level of commitment and endeavour shown by producers, retailers, and regulators to tackling this complex bacteria is unprecedented.”

His comments came after positive discussions on a number of major interventions that are showing encouraging results in production level trials; and are on schedule to be available to industry towards the end of 2015. Early indications suggest that significant reductions in campylobacter levels will be possible through the introduction of these interventions.

Mr MacDonald concluded: “We have work to do but also a collective determination to beat this bug. From farmers stopping it getting into their flocks to consumers benefiting from leak-proof and roast-in-the-bag technology. Our aim remains best practice from farm to fork.”

Notes:

1. The ACT Board’s members are: British Poultry Council, British Retail Consortium, National Farmers Union, Food Standards Agency, Defra, major retailers and processors.

2. The ACT Board was established in late 2014 to rapidly implement and share the best workable and available technologies and techniques in the food production process and supply chain in order to achieve a continuing reduction in Campylobacter from farm to fork and a reduction in foodborne cases of campylobacteriosis.

3. Richard MacDonald was the director general of the NFU from 1996 to 2009. He has also chaired Defra’s Better Regulation Task Force, is a non-executive director of Moy Park, Dairy Crest, the Environment Agency and the Royal Agricultural University, and is chairman of Farm Africa. In 2002 he was awarded a CBE for services to agriculture.

Responses to the retail survey results for Q3

admin — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:35:15 +0000

Here are some of the responses to the FSA’s release of the Q3 results for campylobacter in chicken at retail. This page will be updated through the day. British Poultry Council Marks & Spencer Science and Media Centre…

Retail Survey Results: Q3

admin — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:17:48 +0000

From the website of the Food Standards Agency (the original page can be viewed here):

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has today published the latest set of results from its year-long survey of Campylobacter on fresh chickens. Campylobacter is a food bug mainly found on raw poultry and is the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK.

The results are published for the first time as Official Statistics and the full report can been found here [link]. Cumulative results for samples taken between February and November 2014 have now been published, including results presented by major retailer.

The results to date show:

19% of chickens tested positive for Campylobacter within the highest band of contamination*
73% of chickens tested positive for the presence of Campylobacter
7% of packaging tested positive for the presence of Campylobacter. Only three out of more than three thousand samples of packaging tested positive at the highest band of contamination.

* more than 1000 colony forming units per gram (>1000 cfu/g). These units indicate the degree of contamination on each sample.

More than 3000 samples of fresh whole chilled chickens and packaging have now been tested. Data continue to show variations between the retailers but none is meeting the target for reducing Campylobacter (see table below).

The FSA’s 12-month survey, running from February 2014 to February 2015, will test around 4000 samples of whole chickens bought from UK retail outlets and smaller independent stores and butchers. The full set of results is expected to be published in May.

The FSA has welcomed the publication by M&S of a case-study showing the results from the retailer’s recently implemented five point intervention plan to reduce Campylobacter on its chickens. The preliminary results published by M&S indicate a significant reduction in the number of the most highly contaminated birds.

Steve Wearne, FSA Director of Policy, said:

“We now know it is possible to make positive inroads in the reduction of Campylobacter. Figures released today by M&S show that their intervention plan has resulted in fewer contaminated chickens on sale in their stores. If one retailer can achieve this Campylobacter reduction through systematic interventions then others can, and should.

“Our survey is putting pressure on retailers to work with poultry processors to do more to tackle Campylobacter. We want the industry to reduce the number of the most highly contaminated chickens as we know this will have the greatest impact on public health.

“Campylobacter is killed by thorough cooking, but it should not be left to consumers to manage the risk. It is the most common form of food poisoning in the UK, affecting an estimated 280,000 people a year. Poultry is the source of the majority of these cases, so the industry should be making every effort to ensure chickens are as free from Campylobacter as possible before they reach customers.”

Richard McDonald, Chair of the ACT (Acting on Campylobacter Together) Board, said:

“The UK is leading the way in the search for solutions to reduce Campylobacter levels. We have learned a lot over the last five years about which interventions have the potential to make chicken safer. We must continue to work together to apply these successfully and help industry deliver the results we all want to see.

“The ACT Board is central to this work and represents a forum where processors and retailers can come together to discuss their work to tackle campylobacter and results from the latest interventions. This collaborative approach will be essential as the focus shifts to application and delivery.

“Although the impact of industry interventions has not been seen in the results from the FSA survey to date, we look forward to seeing progress in the FSA’s follow up survey.”

Summary of results by retailer

All results below are taken from the Official Statistics report for the survey which can be found online. This report gives a full explanation of the results and background to the methodology.

The FSA advises that the data for individual retailers have to be interpreted carefully. Confidence intervals are given for each retailer and the “others” category. These show the likely range of the results allowing for the number of samples taken.

The 95% confidence intervals means that we would expect the true prevalence to fall within the lower and upper confidence limits 95% of the time. A key factor in the width of this interval is the sample size. Those retailers with a relatively low market share have a low sample size and correspondingly wide confidence intervals.

The results show, taking the confidence intervals into account, that Tesco is the only one of the main retailers which has a lower incidence of chicken contaminated with Campylobacter at the highest level (>1000 cfu/g), compared to the industry average. Asda is the only main retailer which has a higher incidence of chicken that is contaminated by Campylobacter at the highest level, compared to the industry average. However, the results suggest that none of the retailers is achieving the joint industry target for reducing Campylobacter.

Retailer	No. of samples	% skin samples positive for Campylobacter (95% confidence interval)	% skin samples >1000 cfu/g Campylobacter (95% confidence interval)	% pack samples positive for Campylobacter (95% confidence interval)
Asda	491	78.9 (75.2 – 82.4)	31.1 (27.0 – 35.2)	13.0 (10.1 – 16.1)
Co-op	274	75.6 (70.2 – 80.6)	16.4 (12.3 – 20.9)	4.4 (2.1 – 7.0)
M&S	103	72.2 (63.0 – 80.7)	20.7 (13.0 – 29.1)	3.8 (0.8 – 8.1)
Morrison’s	271	76.2 (71.4 – 80.9)	22.9 (18.0 – 28.0)	13.3 (9.5 – 17.4)
Sainsbury’s	451	69.6 (65.4 – 73.7)	14.3 (11.2 – 17.6)	4.0 (2.3 – 6.0)
Tesco	925	68.2 (65.3 – 71.1)	12.3 (10.2 – 14.4)	4.1 (2.9 – 5.4)
Waitrose	96	71.7 (62.1 – 80.5)	15.6 (8.5 – 23.7)	6.2 (2.1 – 11.7)
Others[1]	450	76.9 (72.9 – 80.7)	23.2 (19.4 – 27.2)	6.8 (4.6 – 9.2)
Total	3061	72.9 (71.4 – 74.5)	18.9 (17.5 – 20.3)	6.8 (5.9 – 7.7)

*The ‘Others’ category includes supermarkets where the market share was deemed small using the 2010 Kantar data, i.e. Lidl, Aldi, Iceland, plus convenience stores, independents, butchers etc.

Consumer advice:

The FSA is pressing the industry to play its part in reducing the levels of Campylobacter contamination at each production stage to as low a level as possible before raw chicken reaches the consumer. Chicken is safe as long as consumers follow good kitchen practice:

Cover and chill raw chicken – Cover raw chicken and store at the bottom of the fridge so juices cannot drip on to other foods and contaminate them with food poisoning bacteria such as Campylobacter;
Don’t wash raw chicken – Cooking will kill any bacteria present, including Campylobacter, while washing chicken can spread germs by splashing;
Wash used utensils – Thoroughly wash and clean all utensils, chopping boards and surfaces used to prepare raw chicken. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water, after handling raw chicken. This helps stop the spread of Campylobacter by avoiding cross contamination.
Cook chicken thoroughly – Make sure chicken is steaming hot all the way through before serving. Cut in to the thickest part of the meat and check that it is steaming hot with no pink meat and that the juices run clear.

[1] The ‘Others’ category includes supermarkets where the market share was deemed small using the 2010 Kantar data: e.g. Lidl, Aldi, Iceland, plus convenience stores, independents, butchers etc.

Retail Survey Results: Q2

admin — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 11:49:16 +0000

On 27th November the Food Standards Agency (FSA) published the cumulative results from the first two quarters of its year-long survey of campylobacter on fresh chickens. Some of the stakeholder responses to the release can be found here.

Tackling campylobacter is the FSA’s number one food safety priority and it is spearheading a campaign to bring together the whole food chain to tackle the problem.

Individual results by major retailer have also been published.

The results to date show:

18% of chickens tested positive for campylobacter above the highest level of contamination*
70% of chickens tested positive for the presence of campylobacter
6% of packaging tested positive for the presence of campylobacter with only one sample at the highest level of contamination (>1,000 cfu/g)

* Above 1,000 colony forming units per gram (>1,000 cfu/g). These units indicate the degree of contamination on each sample.

In total, 1,995 samples of fresh whole chilled chickens have now been tested, with packaging also tested for most of these samples. Data show variations between retailers but none are meeting the end-of-production target for reducing campylobacter.

The overall figures show an increase in contamination from the first quarter to the second quarter. This is most likely due to the second quarter’s samples being taken during the summer months when an increase in campylobacter is often seen because of the warmer weather.

This 12-month survey, running from February 2014 to February 2015, will test 4,000 samples of whole chickens bought from UK retail outlets and smaller independent stores and butchers.

Campylobacter is killed by thorough cooking; however it is the most common form of food poisoning in the UK, affecting an estimated 280,000 people a year. Poultry is the source of the majority of these cases.

The FSA advises that the data for individual retailers have to be interpreted carefully. Confidence intervals are given for each retailer and the ‘others’ category. These show the likely range of the results allowing for the number of samples taken.

At this half-way stage in the survey the results show, taking the confidence intervals into account, that Tesco is the only one of the main retailers which has a lower incidence of chicken contaminated with campylobacter at the highest level (>1,000 cfu/g), compared to the industry average. Asda is the only main retailer which has a higher incidence of chicken that is contaminated by campylobacter at the highest level, compared to the industry average. However, the results suggest that none of the retailers is achieving the joint industry end-of-production target for reducing campylobacter.

Retailer	Number of samples	% skin samples positive for campylobacter (95% confidence interval)	% skin samples > 1,000 cfu/g campylobacter (95% confidence interval)	% pack samples positive for campylobacter (95% confidence interval)
Asda	312	78 (73 – 82)	28 (23 – 33)	12 (8 – 15)
The Co-operative	171	73 (66 – 80)	19 (14 – 25)	5 (2 – 9)
M&S	68	67 (55 – 78)	22 (13 – 33)	4 (0 – 10)
Morrison’s	179	69 (62 – 75)	21 (16 – 28)	9 (5 – 14)
Sainsbury’s	300	69 (63 – 74)	14 (11 – 19)	3 (1 – 6)
Tesco	607	64 (61 – 68)	11 (9 – 14)	3 (2 – 4)
Waitrose	70	69 (58 – 80)	16 (8 – 25)	9 (3 – 18)
Others*	288	76 (71 – 80)	25 (20 – 30)	7 (4 – 10)
Total	1,995	70 (68 – 72)	18 (17 – 20)	6 (5 – 7)

*The ‘Others’ category includes supermarkets where the market share was deemed small using the 2010 Kantar data, ie Lidl, Aldi, Iceland, plus convenience stores, independents, butchers etc.

95% confidence intervals means that we would expect the true prevalence to fall within the lower and upper confidence limits 95% of the time.

Consumer advice

The FSA is pressing the industry to play its part in reducing the levels of campylobacter contamination at each production stage to as low a level as possible before raw chicken reaches the consumer. Chicken is safe as long as consumers follow good kitchen practice:

Cover and chill raw chicken – cover raw chicken and store at the bottom of the fridge so juices cannot drip on to other foods and contaminate them with food poisoning bacteria such as campylobacter;
Don’t wash raw chicken – cooking will kill any bacteria present, including campylobacter, while washing chicken can spread germs by splashing;
Wash used utensils – thoroughly wash and clean all utensils, chopping boards and surfaces used to prepare raw chicken. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water, after handling raw chicken. This helps stop the spread of campylobacter by avoiding cross contamination.
Cook chicken thoroughly – make sure chicken is steaming hot all the way through before serving. Cut in to the thickest part of the meat and check that it is steaming hot with no pink meat and that the juices run clear.

The Problems of Biofilm

admin — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 16:13:20 +0000

A study by the Institute of Food Research has looked at at how campylobacter in the ‘juice’ from chickens can create a biofilm on kitchen surfaces. This research, led by Helen Brown at IFR, has also been reported in the Daily Mail.

The study highlights the important role that good kitchen hygiene practice has in preventing infection through cross contamination, and the need to clean surfaces and utensils thoroughly.

But the problem of biofilms extends beyond the kitchen, and is in fact an issue at many points in the production chain. It is one of the reasons why campylobacter is proving such a tricky customer.

One such area of focus for the poultry industry is crates and modules. These are pieces of equipment used in the catching process. Modules create a drawer-like structure into which multiple crates are placed. This kit shuttles between farms and the slaughterhouse and is a potential route of how campylobacter gets onto sites.

Getting equipment such as this visually clean is a minimum standard applied across the industry, but it has been found that campylobacter can survive in a biofilm similar to that described in the IFR paper. So what does that mean for crates and modules?

Traditional design of this equipment has meant that new ideas are needed in both their use and their cleaning. In their use we’re seeing new practices that minimise the time that crates and modules spend in and around chicken houses, but this is always going to be compromised by the amount of faecal matter chickens produce during catching and transport.

So cleaning of crates and modules becomes even more important. Work is underway on novel washing systems that disrupt the biofilm as well as removing the visible dirt. Trials are also ongoing on using higher temperatures in the water used for cleaning. Previously the plastic of the crates warped or became brittle if the temperature exceeded a certain value.

Ultimately this part of the effort against campylobacter is going to require a combination of novel design, new cleaning techniques, and good practice in use.

What we’re interested in is whether work from other areas can contribute to our understanding in this specific one. If you think you can help please get in touch.

Retail Survey Results

admin — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 12:42:09 +0000

The Food Standards Agency has published the results of its retail survey on levels of campylobacter in chicken. Here are the responses from some of the main stakeholders.

FSA Retail Survey Results

British Poultry Council response

Science Media Centre experts’ response

Institute of Food Research response

British Retail Consortium response

Which? response

CIWF response

Kitchen Hygiene Tips

admin — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 15:51:03 +0000

How you can make sure the food you cook is safe

The poultry industry has a responsibility to produce the safest and highest quality products for consumers. We are involved in a wide-range of different initiatives to ensure that poultry products reach consumers’ kitchen in the safest possible condition.

However it is important for people to be aware that the food they cook at home for themselves and their family and friends can make them ill if correct hygiene practices are not followed. The food we eat is not sterile so everybody has a role to play to ensure food is safe to eat.

The FSA has created Kitchen Check so consumers can test their existing food safety behaviours in their own kitchen. This has a checklist allowing consumers to measure their behaviour against good practice and they also provide guidance on how to improve, with some top tips.

To ensure the food you cook is safe:

Clear space and wash with hot, soapy water or disinfectant. Remove any pets from the kitchen
Hands are one of the main ways germs are spread. You should wash them thoroughly with soap and warm water before starting any food preparation task and after touching raw meat products
Make sure your fridge is set between 0°C and 5°C to prevent harmful germs from growing and multiplying
Keep poultry and raw meat in covered containers on the bottom shelf to avoid raw juices contaminating other foods
Wash your chopping board and knives in hot soapy water when you’ve finished with them and in between preparing raw and ready-to-eat food
When possible, use dedicated chopping boards for each type of food
Dirty, damp cloths are the perfect place for bacteria to breed. Food safety experts suggest you change or wash your tea towels, sponges, aprons and dish-cloths on a daily basis
Use disinfectants and cleaning products that are designed for kitchen use
Make sure poultry is properly cooked by cutting into the thickest part to check it is steaming hot, with no pink meat, and that the juices run clear.

Faccenda Foods invests in SonoSteam technology to combat Campylobacter

admin — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 14:34:59 +0000

Faccenda Foods, one of the UK’s leading food companies with a turnover of over £400m, has announced a further major investment to support their strategy to reduce campylobacter in chickens.

Following extensive testing, Faccenda are now progressing full scale trials at their factory in Brackley with a unique and innovative technology called “SonoSteam.” As part of a series of industry measures to combat campylobacter, this work will start in November 2014 and if successful Faccenda Foods have committed to invest over £1m on this new method.

The technology kills campylobacter and other micro-organisms on the skin and internal cavity of chickens through the simultaneous application of both steam and ultrasound. The steam kills the micro-organisms and the ultra-sound optimises the effect, so the process time required is only 1.5 seconds.

Faccenda Foods Managing Director Andy Dawkins commented: “The SonoSteam® technology is revolutionary in the fight against the risk of food infection. We believe that SonoSteam can deliver a significant reduction in the number of cases of campylobacter food borne infection attributed to chicken and will lead the way in setting industry standards.”

The Food Standards Agency has been a keen supporter of this innovative approach to tackle campylobacter and achieve the 2015 campylobacter reduction target.

Commenting on the news, FSA Chief Executive Catherine Brown said: “This commitment from Faccenda is welcomed by the FSA as another important step towards reducing the risks posed by campylobacter. Faccenda have worked proactively to deliver the ‘Roast in the Bag’ initiative and this is another step in finding an effective intervention for the reduction of campylobacter levels in poultry meat. The FSA is supporting the trials at Faccenda and will provide an independent evaluation of the SonoSteam performance.”

Faccenda Foods Technical Director David Keeble said: “Following an extensive series of trials earlier this year we are excited to be taking the SonoSteam® technology to full scale trials at our Brackley factory. We look forward to working with SonoSteam, the FSA and our customers in the coming weeks as we install, run and validate this unique technology.”

SonoSteam Vice President Niels Krebs added: “We have worked closely with Faccenda on developing the technology to this point and we are confident that the next stage will demonstrate the effectiveness of this innovative approach.”

The installation of SonoSteam at Brackley follows the lead Faccenda have already taken with its award-winning range of Roast in the Bag products. These use an innovative packaging system to enable consumers to put the product straight in the oven without having to remove the packaging first, taking food safety in the kitchen to another level.