Chicken packaging – the killer in your shopping bag?

Seven out of ten of us haven’t heard of it, but most food poisoning cases are caused by one bug called Campylobacter, which is present in almost three-quarters of all supermarket chicken sold.

Many people now understand that they should wash their hands after touching raw chicken, but research published today says that over 70% of UK consumers are unaware that the deadly bacteria is also present on the outside of chicken packaging, including cook in the bag chickens.  

40% of people who have had food poisoning have no idea where they caught it. This isn’t surprising because poisoning from raw chicken can takes up to 5 days before you experience symptoms – but 99% of us are not aware of this so we don’t know where we got food poisoning from or who to blame.

Recent studies by the FSA have revealed that 7% of chickens found on supermarket shelves are contaminated on the outside of the packaging, yet the report found that half of us (52%) don’t clean our hands after handling packaged chicken in supermarkets or pack chicken in a separate bag – all recommended to prevent contamination.

Most shoppers (78%) questioned feel that supermarkets should be doing more about the fact Campylobacter can be found on the outside of chicken packaging, with more than half (54%) saying that they will now shop differently knowing this fact.

This latest survey highlights lack of public awareness – official figures from the Food Standards Agency say that cases of food poisoning and Campylobacter in particular have actually risen in recent years.

The study also highlights common misconceptions about storing and handling chicken – more than a quarter (26%) don’t think it is important to store chicken away from ready-to-eat foods and one in four (26%) still think they should wash raw chicken before cooking it. It also shows that most people hadn’t thought about chicken packaging as a vector for food poisoning.

The key findings of the research carried out by Biomaster amongst 1,000 UK adults who buy chicken were:

 ·      Over 70% of UK consumers do not know that campylobacter is on the outside of chicken packaging sold in UK supermarkets

·      46% of people pack contaminated chicken in the same bag as other foods

·      40% of people who have had food poisoning have no idea where they caught it.

·      63% have never heard of campylobacter

·      Over 70% of UK consumers do not know that campylobacter is on the outside of chicken packaging sold in UK supermarkets

·      More than 99% of people didn’t know that campylobacter takes 4 to 5 days to show food poisoning symptoms

·      26% think they should wash a chicken before preparing it

·      78% think supermarkets should be doing more about the fact Campylobacter can be found on the outside of chicken packaging,

·      (54%) saying that they will now shop differently

·      Londoners (59%) are more likely to pack their chicken into the same bag as other foods than anywhere else in the UK and are less likely (32%) to have heard of campylobacter

·      People in Scotland (88%) are more likely than people elsewhere in the UK to know where they got their food poisoning from

·      The East Midlands (80%) has the highest number of people who don’t know that food poisoning can be found on the outside of chicken packaging

·      25-34 year olds are more at risk from food poisoning (52%) and cross-contamination from chicken packaging (58%)

·      33% of men and 24% of women never wash their hands after handling or preparing chicken.

*Please note that Addmaster was acquired by the Polygiene Group AB in January 2021, so all news articles prior to that date will still be branded as Addmaster.