In 1999, after Holskefla Campylobacter-infections in Iceland, control of chickens was increased. Today, samples are taken from the groups of all farmed chickens on the way to slaughter 2-5 days before the planned slaughter. If the bacterium is detected, all the chicken from the relevant group is frozen after slaughter.
The reason for choosing this route was based on research conducted by the predecessors of the laboratories that merged in Matís and showed that freezing reduced the bacterium by up to 99%. This greatly reduced the risk associated with the treatment of chickens and the cross-contamination of the bacterium in other foods.
As frozen poultry products are sold at much lower prices than fresh ones, the freezing requirement led poultry farmers to tighten all preventive measures, which thus very quickly reduced the pollution of farming groups. These measures, in addition to educating the public on the proper handling of raw chicken products, have meant that today the annual number of diagnosed cases of national origin in humans is only a fraction of what was diagnosed in 1999 and the number of farming groups diagnosed with the bacterium is also only a small fraction. of what was before the freezing requirement was introduced in 2000.
Through these measures, Iceland has created a unique position when it comes to scarcity Campylobacter-infections, but no other country has managed to reduce the number of cases of infection in the same way and in such a short time as happened in Iceland. This success has attracted a great deal of attention, and other countries, including Norway, have been working on setting up a similar system of intervention measures.
For further information Franklin Georgsson, Head of Measurement and Communication at Matís.