Salmonella and Campylobacter rise triggers FSA action
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has raised concerns about the increasing number of Salmonella and Campylobacter infections.
The FSA said recent data has confirmed suspected threshold breaches for Salmonella and Campylobacter. Investigations to identify contributing causes are underway.
As part of monitoring foodborne disease in the UK, the FSA has thresholds for four pathogens. In March, thresholds for Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, and E. coli O157 (STEC) were updated using data provided by public health agencies. Efforts are ongoing to recalculate the STEC threshold to include other E. coli strains.
Updated limits are based on laboratory confirmed reports from fecal and non-fecal samples while the previous ones were based on lab confirmed reports from fecal only samples.
Actions on foodborne infections
Old thresholds were 71,300 lab reports per year in the UK for Campylobacter, 8,500 to 9,500 for Salmonella, 800 to 1,500 for E. coli O157 and 150 to 250 for Listeria. The new limits use rates per 100,000 population.
The 2024 rates of UK lab confirmed cases of Campylobacter and Salmonella exceeded the new thresholds. Rates for Listeria monocytogenes and STEC O157 were below the revised action levels.
Updated thresholds will be published in the next FSA Annual Report and Accounts. Findings from the investigations will be discussed at a board meeting in March 2026.
An Epidemiology of Foodborne Infections Group (EFIG) meeting in August looked at potential causes behind the rises in Campylobacter and Salmonella. EFIG is a multi-agency group of scientific experts. By mid-October, the group will produce its recommendations.
Other research on foodborne disease levels is ongoing. One is analyzing hospital admission data to see whether ethnicity or economic deprivation are associated with hospitalization rates because of foodborne illness and food hypersensitivity.
The Science Council and the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF) are looking at why levels of foodborne disease remain high in the general population.
The FSA is updating Listeria guidance for hospitals and vulnerable consumers, to be completed by early next year as well as reviewing STEC policy control measures in food.
INFOSAN concerns
The FSA also voiced concerns about the risk to the ongoing functioning of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) INFOSAN (International Food Safety Authorities Network) network.
INFOSAN and other WHO networks have faced major resourcing challenges over the past year. INFOSAN enables cross-border communication of food safety risks and the secretariat coordinates multi-country responses to food safety emergencies.
FSA said any disruption to the network could impact the agency’s ability to effectively manage food safety incidents and outbreaks.
FSA has helped promote the need for sustainable financing and it appears that INFOSAN’s remaining resources should be protected until the end of 2027, although this still means low resourcing of the secretariat.
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