Evaluation of the Foodborne Disease Strategy

The Food Standards Agency has evaluated the impact of the varied initiatives undertaken as a part of its foodborne disease strategy, which aims to reduce UK foodborne disease.

Shortly after it was established, as a part of its programme to improve food safety, the Food Standards Agency set itself an objective to reduce foodborne disease in the UK. This was initially to reduce UK foodborne disease by 20% by 2006 and subsequently to reduce foodborne disease further.

A strategy for achieving these aims, together with details of the mechanism by which trends in food poisoning levels would be monitored and the baseline figure for laboratory cases of food poisoning in the UK, were agreed by the Agency’s Board in July 2001. As a result, a wide-ranging programme of work was carried out over a five-year period to:

• reduce microbial contamination of foods
• promote better food safety management and practice
• promote hygienic preparation of food commercially and in the home

A preliminary evaluation of the impact of work undertaken through this strategy was carried out by an independent consultant. The preliminary evaluation report published in May 2006 highlighted successes in some areas of the strategy, but also recognised that initiatives in other areas had yet to be implemented fully.

In October 2007, the Food Standards Agency held an expert workshop with 65 experts in epidemiology and microbiology alongside representatives from primary production, processing and retailing sectors and FSA staff.

Over two days the workshop examined:

• the issues that influence foodborne disease in the UK
• what progress had been made in reducing UK foodborne disease
• whether the initiatives undertaken as part of the Agency’s Foodborne Disease Strategy and the approaches used had been successful
• what other factors may have influenced levels of UK foodborne disease
• what significant issues remained to be addressed

Following presentations on the background and rationale of the FDS, UK surveillance data, analysis and modelling of disease data and external factors, workshop participants discussed the role in foodborne disease of each of the key foodborne pathogens, and food groups across the food chain, in terms of measures for their control and points at which control could be most effective.

The proceedings of the workshop are attached below and we are extremely grateful for the large number of experts that contributed their time, expertise and experience in examining this important area. The review succeeded in identifying notable successes as well as highlighting a number of significant challenges that remain if we are to succeed in reducing foodborne disease further.