EC acts to reduce salmonella in poultry and eggs
New legislation to reduce and control the prevalence of salmonella in poultry and eggs across the EU has been announced by the European Commission today.
By 2008, EU member states will have to work towards targets to reduce the number of laying hens infected with salmonella by a specific minimum percentage each year, with steeper targets set for member states with higher levels of salmonella:
- 10% reduction if the prevalence of salmonella in preceding year is below 10%
- 20% reduction if the prevalence of salmonella in preceding year is 10-19%
- 30% reduction if the prevalence of salmonella in preceding year is 20-39%
- 40% reduction if the prevalence of salmonella in preceding year is over 40%
According to a recent report published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on salmonella levels in laying hens, only 8% of UK holdings were affected by pathogenic forms.
National control programmes on reducing salmonella in laying hens will have to be submitted to the Commission by early 2007. Therefore the Commission expects to see a steady improvement in the current situation across the EU in the interim period. Such targets are already set for breeding hens.
Rules on the methods used to control salmonella in poultry have also been announced. These include the mandatory vaccination from 2008 onwards for laying hens in member states with a salmonella prevalence of 10% or more.
Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for health and consumer protection, has urged member states to do their utmost to meet the targets set today. He said: “Salmonella is one of the most prevalent food-borne diseases in the EU, affecting thousands of people every year, sometimes with serious consequences. Reducing the incidence at farm level will lower its incidence through the rest of the food chain and help protect EU consumers.”
The Commission will meet with national food safety experts in September to look into the possibility of bringing forward the ban on the sale of eggs from salmonella infected flocks, currently foreseen for 2010.
Over 192,000 human cases of salmonella were reported across the EU in 2004, but it is likely that many more went unreported.
The EU has one of the strictest bodies of legislation on food safety in the world with the same stringent provisions applying to foodstuffs produced in the EU as well as those imported from third countries.
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