Food Safety Week

This year, Food Safety Week will take place from 7-13 June and will focus on the most important actions associated with preventing campylobacter:

• cooking thoroughly
• avoiding cross-contamination

Campylobacter causes the greatest number of cases of foodborne illness in the UK each year. There were about 55,000 reported cases of campylobacteriosis in the UK in 2008 but we are aware that many more cases go unreported – the realistic number of cases is more likely to be closer to 375,000 each year.

For Food Safety Week 2010, we will be developing new campaign guidance, which will contain lots of information to help our FSW partners to run successful events, including useful facts and figures, ideas and guidance on running events.

The Agency already has a range of 'GermWatch' materials available to help you during Food Safety Week, which are listed on the resources page at the link below. Details of previous campaigns are also available at the links below.

This page will be updated in the forthcoming months, but to be kept informed directly of future developments, please register by sending an email to foodsafetyweek@ecgroup.co.uk, including 'Register' in the subject line.

For further information contact Catherine Clarke on 020 7276 8842 or email catherine.clarke@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk.

The Food Safety Week theme supports the Agency’s Strategy 2010-2015, which identifies reducing foodborne disease, particularly tackling campylobacter in chicken, as a key priority. During 2010, the Agency will be developing a new campylobacter risk management programme. Although this new programme is expected to involve extensive work with industry to reduce the prevalence of campylobacter in UK-produced retail chicken, the promotion of messages about good food hygiene to consumers through initiatives such as Food Safety Week will remain an important factor in reducing human campylobacter infections.