We report elsewhere today on confirmation from the UK Food and Drink Federation that food safety is an absolute priority for UK, and European, food manufacturers. But just this week the British Medical Association reports in the scientific journal 'Gut' that cases of serious food poisoning in England and Wales requiring admission to hospital have risen in real terms over the past decade -despite rates of overall illness having halved over the same time period.
The figures, collated by the Public Health Laboratory Service, describe the trends in foodborne infection between 1992 and 2000 in England and Wales. They are based on general practice notifications, hospital admissions, and deaths, and adjusted for under-reporting and infections acquired while overseas.
In 1992, foodborne infection was responsible for an estimated 2,869,735 cases and 21,138 hospital admissions. In total 924 people died. By 2000, this had more than halved (53%) to 1,338,772 cases.
Death rates also fell to 480, due to fewer cases of Clostridium perfringens infection from red meat and an animal vaccination programme against salmonella. But the percentage fall of 48 per cent was lower than that of the overall decline in illness.
And the rates of hospital admissions fell by just 3 per cent from 21,331 to 20,759 cases, so forming a larger proportion of all cases in 2000 than they did in 1992.
The numbers of cases attributable to salmonellas have fallen since 1997, but cases caused by Norwalk-like viruses, shot up by 125 per cent, and those attributable to campylobacter species rose by 45 per cent since 1992.
Campylobacters were the most common organism responsible for foodborne infections diagnosed in general practice and rose from around 55 per cent of hospital admissions for foodborne infections to almost 82 per cent. Salmonellas still remained the most common cause of hospital admissions.
Infection with salmonellas, closely followed by Listeria monocytogenes were the leading causes of death, with a substantial proportion attributable to VTEC o517 (verocytotoxin producing Escherichia coli).
Comparison with US figures initially indicated that rates of food poisoning were 11 times higher in the USA. But after adjustment for statistical anomalies and methods of calculating figures, figures were comparable.
The BMA stressed in the report that more needs to be done to tackle campylobacter infections if cases of food poisoning are to be cut.
The UK Food Standards Agency has set a target of cutting the rates of foodborne illness by 20 per cent by 2006.