FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Salmonella and Campylobacter in chicken meat, 4 – 8 May 2009
Salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis are among the most frequently reported foodborne diseases worldwide. While numerous potential vehicles of transmission exist, commercial chicken meat has been identified as one of the most important food vehicles for these organisms. In light of their importance, FAO and WHO have already undertaken risk assessments on Salmonella and Campylobacter in broiler chickens (FAO/WHO 2002).
- Risk assessment of Campylobacter spp. in broiler chickens and Vibrio spp. in seafood, a joint FAO/WHO consultation, Bangkok, Thailand, 5-9 Aug 2002
- Risk assessments of Salmonella in eggs and broiler chickens, MRA Series 1 & 2
The Codex Alimentarius Commission has now decided to develop guidelines for the control of Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry based on these risk assessments, other available risk assessments and the most recent scientific knowledge on these 2 organisms.
The guidelines will consist of three sections, one which addresses good hygiene practices, one which addresses hazard-based control measures and a third which focuses on risk-based control measures. Work on the development of these guidelines has started. However, the availability of data on the practical implementation of such measures has implications for their further development. The third section of the guidelines is envisaged to be used in conjunction with a user friendly web-based risk management decision support tool, to be developed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA), which will allow the risk manager to input data specific to his/her production and processing system and thereby evaluate the effectiveness of different risk reduction measures.
In order to support this work, FAO and WHO have convened an expert meeting in May 2009. The report of the meeting is available through the link below: