FACULTY OF LIFE SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN
Optimal interventions to control
Campylobacter in broilers in Denmark
Rosenquist H, Sommer HM, Hald B, Lassen J, Korzen S, Lund M, Lawson L,
Jensen JD, Christensen T, Mørkbak M, Sandøe P
In a multi disciplinary project we have evaluated interventions against Campylobacter in
the broiler production chain. Taking into account risk reduction, costs, practicability and
public acceptance of decontamination, it was concluded that at present the optimal
control measure for the Danish situation is screening broiler houses with fly nets.
Risk assessment
80%
Public acceptance of decontamination
Risk reduction DK
70%
Freezing
Risk reduction DK + IMP
Steaming
60%
50%
Boiling
40%
30%
Rinsing
20%
10%
Marinating
0%
Rodent control
or upgrading
houses
Fly screens
(-10 %, unpubl.) (-17 %, based
on ref. 1)
Biacton
(-0.5 log,
unpubl.)
Crust freezing
Marinade
Scheduling,
freezing
(-0.4 log, ref. 2) (-1.4 log 30 %,
ref. 3)
FARM
Chemical
decontamination
Use of chlorine
(-2 log, 50 %, (-1.2 log, ref. 6)
refs. 4-5)
0%
20%
Totally acceptable
PLANT
40%
2
60%
3
4
80%
100%
Totally unacceptable
A quantitative farm to consumption risk assessment model was developed
using Danish data and production conditions from 2006-2008 as baseline.
Interventions resulting in the highest risk reductions were feed additive and fly
screens (farm) and chemical decontamination (plant). Including import in the
assessment weakened the effect.
Six focus group interviews and a representative survey of the Danish
population (n=1,104; ≥ 18 years) were conducted (7, 8). Over all, the public
was inattentive to food safety and skeptical to decontamination, unless the
method was familiar from home-cooking traditions, e.g. freezing and heat
treatment.
Costs
Practicability
Feed additive
Not tested in full scale, not yet applicable
Scheduling
Only about half the positive flocks are detected
Campylobacter positive using sock samples collected one
week before slaughter
Freezing
Marked demands for fresh chilled meat counteracts with this
intervention
Marinade
Marked demands for fresh chilled meat counteracts with this
intervention
Chemical
decontamination
No chemical compounds are yet approved in the EU
0.018
€/broiler for large farms
0.016
0.014
0.012
0.01
0.008
0.006
0.004
0.002
0
Feed
additive
Rodent
control
Improving
houses
FARM
Fly screens
Chemical
(TSP)
Marinade
(acidic)
PLANT
Economic analysis was carried out based on data from Danish farms and a
large company (9). The cheapest interventions were adding a feed additive
(farm) or chemical decontamination (plant). The most expensive control
measure was crust-freezing (€ 0.27).
Choice experiments to elicit preferences for reducing Campylobacter risks were
performed using an online questionnaire (n=753) (10). If food safety was
brought up as an issue, consumers were willing to pay a higher price for
additional food safety.
Due to impracticalities, feed additive, scheduling, freezing, marinade and
chemical decontamination are not the most optimal interventions. Neither is
crust freezing due to high costs. This leaves only fly screening of broiler
houses, which leads to a significant risk reduction and might be public
accepted as no “foreign” substances are applied onto the meat. We argue
that at present the optimal control measure for the Danish situation is
screening of broiler houses with fly nets. However, we are aware that new
methods are being developed and have to be evaluated currently.
1 Hald B, Sommer HM, Skovgård H (2007): Use of fly screens to reduce Campylobacter spp. Introduction in broiler houses. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 13, 1951-1953
2 Boysen L, Rosenquist H (2009) Reduction of thermotolerant Campylobacter species on broiler carcasses following physical decontamination at slaughter. J. Food Prot. 72,497-502.
3 Birk T, Grønlund AC, Christensen B, Knøchel S, Lohse K, Rosenquist H (2009): The effect of organic acids and marination ingredients on the survival of Campylobacter jejuni on meat. J. Food Prot. 73, 258–265.
4 Rosenquist H, Sommer HM, Nielsen NL, Christensen BB (2006) The effect of slaughter operations on the contamination of chicken carcasses with thermotolerant Campylobacter. Int. J. Food. Microbiol. 108, 226-232.
5 Sandberg M, Hofshagen M, Ostensvik O, Skjerve E and Innocent G(2005): Survival of Campylobacter on frozen broiler carcasses as a function of time. Journal of Food Protection, 68, 1600-05.
6 Whyte P, Collins JD, McGill K, Monahan C, O'Mahony H (2001): Quantitative investigation of the effects of chemical decontamination procedures on the microbiological status of broiler carcasses during processing. J. Food Prot.
64, 179-83.
7 Korzen S, Sandøe P, Lassen J (2011): Don’t wash my meat: Public perceptions of decontamination in meat production. British Food Journal 113(5):598-612
8 Korzen SM , Lassen J (2010): Meat in context: on the relation between perceptions and contexts. Appetite 54(2):274-281.
9 Lawson GL, Jensen JD, Lund M (2008): Costs of intervention measures against Campylobacter in Danish broiler supply chain. Working Paper, Institute of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen
10 Christensen T, Denver S, Jensen, JD, Rosenquist H, Wingstrand A, Aabo S, Ifversen B (2009): Consumption patterns and consumer risks – an overview of the Danish markets for pork, chicken, and eggs and the consumer risk
associated with Salmonella and Campylobacter. Institute of Food and Resource Economics, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Hanne Rosenquist
Head of Danish Zoonosis Centre
Division of Microbiology and Risk Assessment
Technical University of Denmark
National Food Institute
Mørkhøj Bygade 19
DK-2860 Søborg
haro@food.dtu.dk
www.food.dtu.dk