Salmonella (Hansard, 26 March 1990)

§ Mr. Gummer

The European Commissioner for Agriculture has assured me that he will present proposals on the control of zoonoses by May with a view to adoption by the Council in the summer. I welcome this undertaking as I believe that controls on salmonella should be adopted on a Community basis.

We have a strong basis upon which to pursue discussions in the Community because of the stringent and comprehensive set of measures in the United Kingdom to combat the salmonella problem. Our measures extend throughout the production chain, covering feedingstuffs, controls on breeding flocks, hatcheries and laying flocks and hygienic practices during slaughter and processing. These have been directed in particular at egg production, but have also helped to control salmonella in the poultry meat sector. The action that we have taken in the United Kingdom has clearly had an impact in reducing potential causes of human food poisoning, particularly from eggs.

As for the Community policy, we believe that the key priority areas will be to ensure clean hatchery and breeding stock for both layers and broiler flocks and to minimise any risk of infection entering through feed. Good hygiene is essential through all stages of production as this reduces overall infection. We believe that the Community measures will also need to require regular testing of laying flocks and to specify appropriate action when salmonellae, of types particularly associated with human food poisoning, are found.

The Community measures will need to take account of all relevant research and to ensure that the action taken in respect of particular poultry flocks is commensurate with the health risks which may be present. Consideration should be given, for example, to including in Community policy the option of treating certain types of flock to remove or prevent infection in young birds before they come into lay. The Government are already reviewing this possibility. In addition, there is a need to consider whether inhibitory treatment of chicks is an option that should be encouraged in commercial laying flocks to prevent them becoming infected.

The risk of infection in eggs arises from certain invasive forms of salmonellae which can infect the egg before it is laid. When these are present in laying or breeding flock our policy has been to prevent any eggs from the flock entering the food chain and we will be looking for similar steps to be taken throughout the Community.

It is important to remove any risk to public health when infected flocks are compulsorily slaughtered. We have 55W hitherto ensured this by requiring the carcases to be destroyed. However, in discussions in the Community it has become clear that regulations are likely to follow the approach of applying safeguards to the end products permitting them to be consumed without danger to health rather than requiring carcases from infected flocks to be destroyed. We recognise that an alternative to our present policy would be to ensure that any salmonellae present in the bird are destroyed by thorough cooking. This is the normal treatment process for birds at the end of their laying cycle. In the light of these considerations, the Government have decided to permit carcases from infected flocks to be processed under carefully controlled conditions and subject to stringent safeguards to remove any risk from the product to public health and we will be seeking to ensure similar requirements in the Community discussions.

The flock owner will retain the proceeds from the sale of the birds and our compensation arrangements will be adjusted accordingly.

We will be issuing on 2 April further advice to local authorities, which enforce the poultry meat hygiene legislation, on measures to minimise the spread of salmonellae in poultry slaughterhouses. This, like the action taken over breeding flocks and hatcheries, will minimise the level of infection in birds reared for the table. It will, of course, continue to be necessary for caterers and retailers to ensure that raw and partly cooked poultry products are carefully handled and for any raw meat to be handled properly in the home and fully cooked, as emphasised in the Government's food safety leaflet.

I believe that measures adopted on a Community basis will give the best protection to consumers and I will be working to achieve a speedy and effective agreement so that consumers can have confidence in food supplies whether they are home-produced or imported from other member states.