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FSA targets poultry sector to cut foodborne illness
16 February 2005UK - Food is the most common source of zoonotic infections in humans, suggesting that tightening biosecurity measures at the beginning of the food supply chain is vital. As a result, the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) is targeting poultry producers to help achieve a 20 per cent reduction in the incidence of foodborne diseases by April 2006. This is contained in the FSA's strategic plan for 2005-2010, a five-year strategy that focuses on primary food production as a means of reducing contamination at source. This strategy is supported by the findings of a recent report released by the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM), which found that food in the beginning of the supply chain is more vulnerable to contamination than food in the processing and packaging stages of production, because of environmental variability and our inability to control it. The report, "Preharvest Food Safety and Security," points out that recent outbreaks of a number of foodborne illnesses have been linked to contamination occurring in the preharvest stage of food processing. As part of its strategy therefore, the FSA aims to work closely with the farming industry to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in the incidence of UK-produced chickens, which test positive for campylobacter at slaughter by 2010. Source: Food Porduction Daily
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