Consumers want the food industry to be more proactive in tackling campylobacter on chickens according to the findings of new research published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
The findings show that 76% of people questioned want retailers to be more proactive in telling them what actions they are taking to reduce the campylobacter levels on the raw chicken they sell with more than half of people (53%) saying they would start buying chicken from another retailer if their usual shop was found to sell more than the industry average ‘high risk’ chicken.
“Publishing surveillance data on campylobacter has prompted action from retailers and processors and we are now seeing progress,” said FSA’s director of policy, Steve Wearne.
“Our campaign has also raised awareness of campylobacter amongst the public and it is good to see from our research that it is customers, and not just the FSA, demanding action and information from retailers. We have always said that consumer power will ultimately push industry action.”
The research findings have been released to coincide with the resumption this month of FSA’s campylobacter survey, following a five-month suspension so that the agency could update the way the survey is carried out.
