The incidence of Salmonella contamination in poultry products in Iceland has fallen sharply in recent decades and it is now the case that infection in poultry products on the Icelandic market is rare and much lower than is known in most countries in the world.
This good situation can be attributed to the good results that have been achieved through the concerted efforts of all stakeholders, ie. poultry farmers, slaughter license holders, regulators, governments and consumers to ensure that contaminated products are not distributed. As an indication of the good results that have been achieved in terms of both Campylobacter and Salmonella contamination in chicken products on the market, it can be mentioned that the extensive monitoring carried out by Matís and Matvælastofnun (MAST) in 2012-2013 did not show any samples with Salmonella or Campylobacter.
About Matís laboratory
Due to the planned designation of Matís laboratory as a reference laboratory for various food pathogens, it was recently launched. year of preparation for the installation of specialized measurement methods for the diagnosis of these bacteria. Special emphasis has been placed on developing a method for measuring so-called Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria, which cause the most dangerous infections caused by bacteria from the pathogenic E. coli bacteria. In recent years, several cases of the disease have been caused by this bacterium in Iceland, and there is certainly a need to study the spread of this dangerous disease in animals, products and the environment.
In recent years, Matís Laboratory has specialized in quality and safety measurements for the pharmaceutical industry. These have primarily been microbiological measurements of synthetic drugs, raw materials for pharmaceuticals and environmental samples from the pharmaceutical manufacturing environment. Many of the methods used in this connection are specialized for the pharmaceutical industry and in many cases the laboratory has had to implement these methods specifically to meet the requirements. The knowledge that has been created at the laboratory in this connection has proved to be extremely valuable and the pharmaceutical industry in Iceland and related activities is now extremely important for the laboratory's activities.
For further information Franklin Georgsson, Head of Measurement and Communication at Matís.