§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of recent trends and likely future trends in respect of the number of food poisoning cases in the United Kingdom and in identifying the causes of those trends.
§ Mr. FreemanThe principal micro-organisms that are identified as responsible for food poisoning in the United Kingdom are salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. Laboratory reports for 1989 on these organisms to the PHLS communicable disease surveillance centre are given in the table.
Reports of identifications by laboratories—1989 (provisional approximate figures) 1989 Salmonella 26,000 Clostridium perfringens 300 Staphylococcus aureus 10 Bacillus cereus 20 In recent years, there has been an increase in food poisoning notifications, partly due to an increase in food poisoning but partly as a consequence of better monitoring and public awareness.
Since 1986 the biggest single cause for the increasing burden of food poisoning in this country can be ascribed to the rise in infections with salmonella enteritidis phage type 4, associated predominantly with poultry meat and eggs. The latest figures from the public health laboratory service for human isolations of this organism indicate, however, a levelling off in this particular problem for 1989. These figures show that in 1989 a total of about 13,000 isolates of salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 were recorded. This is around a 3 per cent. rise on the 1988 figure of about 12,500 isolates, but represents a significant change in the trends noted for 1988 and 1987 when the percentage increases in this organism were respectively 152 and 67 per cent.
Foodborne illness due to organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus has not shown any particular trend over the years.
However, the PHLS communicable disease surveillance centre also records information on cases of gastro-enteritis (which may not necessarily be foodborne in all cases). These figures show that there has been a marked upward trend in illness due not only to salmonella but also to campylobacter. In 1988, about 29,000 reports of campylobacter were made. The provisional figure for 1989 is approximately 33,000. Campylobacter can be found in water (but not chlorinated public water supplies), unpasteurised milk and chicken (where a survey isolated 774W the organism from over 40 per cent. of raw chicken carcases examined). The organism is usually responsible for sporadic cases of illness and rarely causes outbreaks. The widely held view is that much sporadic human campylobacter is probably attributable to cross contamination from poultry and to eating under-cooked chicken; but more information on the sources of contamination of food with this organism is needed before it will be possible to devise appropriate methods of control.