Work

Interventions Applied at Retail, Consumer, Restaurant and Catering Settings to Reduce the Levels of Campylobacter spp.

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This review looks at interventions to reduce Campylobacter, bacteria which are a common cause of food poisoning, found on chicken sold in shops, cooked at home, or prepared in restaurants or catering settings.Cooking is by far the most effective way to kill Campylobacter.Heating chicken all the way through to 70°C or more reduces the number of bacteria within minutes.Chilling and freezing interventions can help reduce the number of bacteria, but they cannot make the chicken meat completely safe on their own.Their impact depends on how long the chicken is stored for and how many bacteria it was contaminated to begin with.Freezing chicken for more than three weeks tends to reduce bacteria the most.Chilling has mixed results: keeping chicken in the fridge for up to three days does not have much effect, while chilling for more than a week often is not practical as the meat will go off.A major risk of Campylobacter illness comes from cross-contamination, when bacteria from raw chicken spread to hands, utensils, cutting boards or other foods and is eaten.Studies suggest that this is potentially the most common way people get ill, followed by eating undercooked chicken.Research also shows that many people believe they are following good kitchen hygiene, but in practice, things like proper handwashing with hot water and soap do not happen as often as stated.Educational campaigns can improve food safety behaviours, but the effect does not usually last long.Longer-term approaches, such as teaching good food habits early in life and reinforcing them regularly through public health messages, may create more lasting change.Mathematical models can help identify the most important steps to reduce Campylobacter risk, but their predictions still need to be checked in real-life scenarios. Executive summaryThis systematic review discusses interventions to reduce the levels of Campylobacter spp. in retail, consumer, restaurant and catering settings in relation to chicken meat, focusing on three main intervention typescooking, chilling and freezing, and one risk factor -cross-contamination.Cooking remains the most reliable intervention, particularly at temperatures at or above 70°C, which consistently eliminate Campylobacter within minutes.Refrigeration and freezing offer moderate reductions but are not sufficient as standalone interventions.Their effectiveness is influenced by storage duration and initial contamination levels, with freezing for more than 3 weeks offering consistently larger reductions in bacterial levels compared to chilling.The effects of refrigeration vary widely -for three days or less in particular, while longer periods of more than seven days may be impractical.Consumer handling of raw chicken poses a significant risk of Campylobacter cross-contamination, with modelling studies predicting crosscontamination as the main pathway for campylobacteriosis (rather than undercooking).Observational studies reveal a gap between reported and actual hygiene behaviours, with proper handwashing (hot water and soap) inconsistently practiced.Short-term educational interventions improve behaviour temporarily, but sustained change may require a different approach such as early food safety education and continuous reinforcement through public health messaging.Modelling studies can guide prioritisation of interventions for risk reduction, but the predictions need validation with experimental studies.

Source: FSA research and evidence.

DOI: 10.46756/001c.161540