The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) has made the choice to expand their testing program after Salmonella enteritidis type 11 (ST11) was found at an Auckland poultry farm earlier this year. The bacteria has now been found on three layer farms and is thought to be linked to the increase in human illness cases in the country.
ST11 was detected through a Food Safety audit and additional testing at the Auckland supplier of hatching eggs and chicks. According to LiveNews in New Zealand, testing has been concentrated on egg producers rather than meat due to the increased food safety risk and existing farm measures to reduce the hazard. Currently, no eggs have tested positive.
The program
The expanded program includes twenty layer facilities and five chick producers, that jointly account for 80% of the industry’s table eggs, explained Vincent Arbuckle (Deputy Director of General Compliance and Governance for MPI). The objective is to further prevent potentially affected eggs from reaching consumers. Arbuckle and New Zealand Food Safety predicts the new testing approach will take approximately two months.
Furthermore, MPI continues to recommend that consumers follow proper food safety protocols including clean food preparation surfaces, cook raw meat thoroughly, and chill cooked meat in the fridge.
Another outbreak
Earlier in the year, another common bacteria in the poultry industry (Campylobacter) was prevalent in New Zealand. Infections caused by this bacteria were considered the largest food safety issue in the country, according to a December 2020 paper in Epidemiology and Infection.
The authors explained that responsibility for food safety needs to shift to an independent regulator to better combat the epidemic, such as the MPI. Additionally, the authors stated, “Regulating food producers is more effective than educating consumers and is highly cost-effective.”
