The report is an analysis of the data from the survey carried out by the FSA between February 2014 and March 2015, which showed the levels of Campylobacter found on fresh, whole chickens sold in the UK.
The results for the full year, as previously published, showed:
19% of chickens tested positive for Campylobacter within the highest band of contamination*
73% of chickens tested positive for the presence of Campylobacter
0.1% (five samples) of packaging tested positive at the highest band of contamination.
7% of packaging tested positive for the presence of Campylobacter.
* more than 1000 colony forming units per gram (>1000 cfu/g). These units indicate the degree of contamination on each sample.
The survey results, which were published on a quarterly basis throughout the year, allowed consumers for the first time to compare the Campylobacter levels found on chickens from all of the major retailers. The final report contains data sets of the results from all of the retailers and includes comparisons between different sized birds.