26 January 2006 Campylobacter Record-Breaker A Wake-Up Call - Greens

Newly released figures, showing cases of campylobacter to be at the highest level ever, are a national disgrace, the Green Party says.

ESR Public Health Surveillance figures show there were 15,785 reported cases of campylobacter in 2006, almost 2000 more than the year before, Greens Health Spokesperson Sue Kedgley says.

"That's a 14 percent increase in just one year, and an enormous 56 percent increase over the past five. These figures are only a fraction of the actual number as many cases go unreported.

"What this shows is that our health officials are clearly using the wrong tactics in the fight against this epidemic," Ms Kedgley says.

"Virtually all the research indicates that the main cause of campylobacter illness in humans is uncooked chicken, however, our Government has yet to take any effective steps to clean up contamination in New Zealand's poultry industry.

"The New Zealand Food Safety Authority, whose job it is to ensure that our food is safe, does little more than call for yet more investigations, and in the meantime New Zealanders are falling ill at an alarming rate.

"The Authority's own studies show that campylobacter cross-contamination is occurring at virtually all stages of poultry processing and sale, yet the simple steps that can be taken to prevent this are not being taken.

"A higher emphasis should be placed on more hygienic methods of transportation to avoid cross-contamination between live birds. Studies show that there is a problem with automated processing systems as they pose a far higher risk of contamination than manual systems. At the retail stage, mandatory leak-proof packaging would prevent other grocery items and surfaces being contaminated.

"Instead of addressing some of these issues, the Authority is placing all its faith in public education in the hope that this will solve the problem, but these latest figures show that method is clearly failing.

"It is time for officials to stop flapping around this issue with more studies, and just get on with doing what is needed to keep New Zealanders safe," Mrs Kedgley says.

ENDS

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