FSA recommendation to assess the system of food safety controls in Poland

Background

In the last few years the UK has seen a rise in the number of notifications from the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed relating to the detection of Salmonella in Polish poultry meat and poultry meat products that had been exported to the UK. These notifications require food safety interventions such as product withdrawals and/or recalls in the UK by food business operators and food authorities, at a significant burden to those authorities and the food industry.    

Investigations, meetings with Polish authorities, and work with the industry identified concerns over Poland's capability to detect and manage Salmonella in poultry meat and poultry meat products, and after detection the ability to appropriately control the pathogen.  

Corrective actions and enhanced controls were introduced by the Polish authorities to ensure that unsafe poultry products could not be exported to the UK. Recent evidence indicates the situation is improving, although not fully resolved.  

April 2023 FSA recommendation 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommends an audit to assess the food safety control system in Poland and the implementation of historic and planned corrective actions, to ensure an adequate level of health protection is in place for UK consumers from imports of poultry meat and poultry meat products originating from Poland.