FSA campylobacter report 2015

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) publishes its final report of its year long survey of campylobacter levels on UK fresh shop bought chickens.
The report is an analysis of the data from the survey carried out by the FSA between February 2014 and March 2015, which shows the levels of campylobacter found on fresh, whole chickens sold in the UK.
The results for the full year, as previously published, showed:
- 19% of chickens tested positive for campylobacter within the highest band of contamination
- 73% of chickens tested positive for the presence of campylobacter
- 0.1% (five samples) of packaging tested positive at the highest band of contamination
- 7% of packaging tested positive for the presence of campylobacter
The survey results, which are published on a quarterly basis throughout the year, allows consumers for the first time to compare the campylobacter levels found on chickens from all major retailers.
Steve Wearne, director of policy at the FSA, says, “The FSA’s retail survey has been an important part of our work to tackle campylobacter. Thanks to the focus the survey has put on the industry, retailers and processors are starting to invest in new inventions to tackle the bug.
“Our new retail survey, which is already underway, will allow us to track progress and give us an indication of where these interventions to tackle the results.”
The full report can be accessed here.