Risk-based standards for Campylobacter in the broiler meat chain

Abstract

To control the risks of Campylobacter in broiler meat, microbiological criteria in the food chain are proposed for testing and scheduling, that is testing the level of contamination in a flock and diverting highly contaminated flocks away from fresh meat production. By applying quantitative risk assessment, the effects of this strategy for different test sensitivities at different stages in the food chain are evaluated for their expected impact on consumer health risk and the percentage of flocks to be scheduled. This offers a practical tool to compare costs and benefits of different risk management options and demonstrates the use of quantitative risk assessment to set risk-based standards.