Campylobacter Contamination of Chicken Packaging
Chicken packaging in UK-Supermarkets has been shown during a FSA investigation in 2014, [1] where it was found that 70 per cent of chickens on sale over the six months between February and the end of July were contaminated – worse than the 65 per cent reported in a similar study in 2009.
When skin swabs taken from the skins of roasting chickens sold by retailers were cultured to determine viable bacterial populations, it was found 73.3% contained Campylobacter. However, the swabs taken from 14.2% of all chickens sold contained the highest levels of the bacterium (above 1000 CFU) which could present a higher risk of infection. Some of the factors that affected the numbers of Campylobacter recovered from the skin surface of chicken carcases was seasonal and size of chicken. Lower counts were found during spring compared with summer, autumn or winter and higher counts were associated with larger chicken carcases. It was discovered that Campylobacter could be cultured from the outside of the chicken packaging in 6.8% of packages which could increase the risk of potential human infection. However, the levels of Campylobacter found on the outside of the packages was generally low and it would be expected that only 0.009% of all packages would contain high quantities of Campylobacter (above 1000 CFU) on the outside of the packaging. Approximately one million chickens are sold daily mostly through retailers [2] and it would be expected that 10 of these packages would present a serious health risk to potential or committed customers. Campylobacter is a highly infectious bacterium requiring only 500 cells to lead to the symptoms associated with Campylobacteriosis.
- Jorgensen F, Madden RH, Arnold E, Charlett A, Elviss NC. 2015. A microbiological survey of campylobacter contamination in fresh whole UK produced chilled chickens at retail sale. Retrieved from: https://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/foodborneillness/b15programme/b15projects/fs241044a
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