Foodborne Disease Strategy Consultative Group

The Food Standards Agency has established a Consultative Group involving a cross-section of stakeholders to help it in the implementation of the strategy to meet its target of reducing foodborne disease by 20% by April 2006. The Group held its first meeting on 21 September 2001.

The Agency Board agreed a strategy to meet the target in May 2001 and the current version of the strategy, revised in the light of Board comments, was published on the web-site in July. Recognising that it is impossible to determine the actual number of cases of foodborne disease, the Board agreed that the appropriate way of monitoring success in achieving the target was to use laboratory reports of the major foodborne bacteria - Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli O157, Clostridium perfringens and Listeria monocytogenes - excluding those cases reported to have been acquired abroad. The total number of reports for the year ending 31 December 2000 was 62,209.

The strategy is based on a farm-to-fork approach, with the aim of reducing contamination of foods during production and processing and of promoting good food hygiene practice in the kitchen, whether commercially or in the home. It will involve both sector-specific measures and measures that will have impact across all food sectors, including training and education of food handlers, promotion of HACCP and a media food hygiene campaign.