Foodborne pathogens such as norovirus, Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) cause approximately 2.4 million cases of disease in the UK population and impose an annual cost to society equivalent to £9.1 billion every year.
The overarching aim of this Area of Research Interest (ARI) is to empower the FSA to make policy decisions about microbiological foodborne disease based on the best evidence available.
We also commission external research to develop and refine tools and approaches, for example the development or optimisation of diagnostic tests or quantitative models. Research requirements are identified via an internal programme steering group and are informed by issues raised by the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food and the FSA’s Foodborne Disease Policy Framework. Research outputs are used to inform risk assessments and technical advice, to inform policy decisions and to evaluate the performance of changes to policy.
Under the auspices of Directive 2003/99/EC on the monitoring of zoonoses and zoonotic agents, EU member states were required to assess the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in a range of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. The UK analysed 1,600 samples during the period 1 November 2010 until 31 October 2011.
There is currently a degree of uncertainty regarding how hepatitis A and E viruses survive in different foods, fomites and environments. To address this, the Food Standards Agency commissioned a critical review on the effects of heat, pH and water activity on the survival of hepatitis A and E viruses.
There is currently no effective method for routinely assessing the infectivity of hepatitis E virus (HEV), an emerging foodborne agent. This critical review will consider the available literature on approaches to assessing the infectivity of HEV and other enteric viruses with the aim of recommending a suitable method for foodborne HEV.
The aim of this project was to use Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) to increase our understanding of the evolution and epidemiology of E. coli O157 isolates from Scotland. The WGS data generated in this pilot study will represent a development in our knowledge base on the types and diversity of O157 strains circulating in Scotland.
By evaluating the current literature and engaging with stakeholders this study examined the feasibility of introducing, in the UK, on-farm controls for reducing E. coli O157 shedding in cattle.
This project examined current recipes and methods for producing chicken liver pâté and identified interventions (freezing, heat, organic acids) to eliminate the key hazard (campylobacter) whilst ensuring that the final product is acceptable to consumers.
Our organisation commissioned a research project to assess whether freezing chicken livers, before they are prepared and cooked in a catering or domestic kitchen, can significantly reduce the incidence of campylobacter contamination.
All campylobacter isolates collected during two infectious intestinal disease Studies (IID1 and IID2) were subjected to a well-established pipeline leading to whole genome sequencing (WGS) using the Illumina MiSeq platform.
The project provides further insights on how Campylobacter grows and survives in meat and how it can be destroyed by appropriate heat treatment including sous vide which uses lower cooking temperatures. A predictive model and user guide has been developed to help the food industry to address this hazard in food production.
APHA have updated their existing quantitative risk assessment model to refine the estimate of VTEC O157 within a burger as it is rapidly cooked to rare or medium in a domestic setting. Following this study, we commissioned RIVM to undertaken a further thermodynamic modelling study in early 2015.
This is an extension of our project FS101124. This study was commissioned to use RIVM’s thermodynamic inactivation model to refine characteristics of the cooking process and resulting impact on VTEC O157 in beef burgers.
Reviews of the B15 egg and poultry research programmes were held in 2004.
A rapid test, suitable for on-farm use, for the detection of Campylobacter can provide a tool for farmers to monitor and identify best practice. The aim of this proof-of-concept study was to develop and trial a dipstick-like test strip onto which a few drops of sample could be spotted for quick, easy, inexpensive and on-site detection of Campylobacter in chicken faeces.
This was a short project which gave independent broiler chicken farmers the opportunity to test for Campylobacter on their farms for free. It was a voluntary scheme which helped to raise further awareness of Campylobacter and it yielded some potentially useful information with regards to what factors influence colonisation.
This research project aims to improve cleaning of poultry transport crates in order to reduce microbiological contamination.
This research project aimed to determine the infectivity of different types of cattle tissue by assessing whether BSE can be transmitted to cattle by injecting them with the tissues.
The research aimed to optimise surface-Fluorescence Intensity Distribution Analysis (surface-FIDA) in respect to sensitivity and specificity of detecting single PrP;-particles. Body fluids such as blood were used to investigate the application of surface-FIDA to living animals. Brain tissue and CSF from preclinical animals were also used to investigate the very early state of disease.
This research project aimed to develop a hygienic and safe procedure for producing 'skin-on' sheep meat.
This study was designed to provide a risk assessment of whether sheep, experimentally infected with atypical scrapie, harbour infectivity in tissues relevant to food safety. Also information was sought on the pathogenesis and any clinically important differences from classical scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in sheep.
This research project aimed to provide data on the infectivity of atypical scrapie following oral dosing and informed part of the risk assessment of what, if any, human risk there might be from atypical scrapie.
The aim of this study was to apply molecular diagnostic techniques to samples and isolates gathered during a previous field study (project FS145003) to validate the culture results and obtain additional information about the pathogenic potential for humans of the isolates.
This review was carried out in 2006 and critically examines the available scientific evidence that would support the (then new) hygiene legislation regarding the regulatory limit on the age restriction of meat at mincing.
This project aimed to quantify the risk of transmission of novel TSEs to humans.
The development of TSE diagnostic tests to date has focused on the detection of PrPSc as the only established marker of infection. While this single marker approach has been adequate for surveillance testing purposes, PrPSc may not deliver the specificity and sensitivity required for a blood based pre-clinical assay.
The combined application of antibody-based and Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) techniques as well as bioassay to edible tissues provided key information on their infectivity in TSE infected sheep. It also gave information on how well the biochemical assays performed in comparison to the longer and more costly bioassays.