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# FSA: 280,000 Sickened With Campylobacter in the UK Last Year
- URL: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2015/05/fsa-280000-sickened-with-campylobacter-in-the-uk-last-year/
- Published: 2015-05-13T05:04:23.000Z
- Updated: 2018-07-31T06:33:55.000Z
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Food Policy & Law, Government Agencies, Nutrition & Public Health, World, chicken, Chicken Challenge 2015, handling poultry, poultry, United Kingdom, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-25 08:58

An estimated 280,000 United Kingdom citizens fell ill with *Campylobacter* in 2014, according to the country’s Food Standards Agency (FSA). The estimation comes atop growing concerns over the rates of *Campylobacter* contamination on chicken in the U.K. The challenge of *Campylobacter* on raw poultry has become so pervasive that FSA is dedicating its annual Food Safety Week (May 18-24) to launching its [Chicken Challenge 2015](http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/campaigns/chicken-challenge?ref=foodsafetynews.com), a social media campaign to raise awareness about the risk of foodborne illness from chicken.

[![BroilerChickenMain](http://foodsafetynewsfullservice.marlersites.com/files/2015/05/BroilerChickenMain.jpg)](http://foodsafetynewsfullservice.marlersites.com/files/2015/05/BroilerChickenMain-1.jpg?ref=foodsafetynews.com)

According to the agency, 58 percent of confirmed *Campylobacter* illnesses in the U.K. come from poultry. The agency said it hopes to cut *Campylobacter* illness incidence in half in 2015 by educating consumers on a few key concepts when cooking poultry:

- Bag and store raw poultry separately from other food, covered and chilled on the bottom shelf of the fridge.
- Do not wash raw poultry, as it can splash bacteria around the kitchen.
- Wash everything in soap and hot water that touches raw chicken — that means your hands and utensils.
- Check that the poultry is cooked properly — that there’s no pink meat and the juices run clear.

Sales of chicken in the U.K. [fell 7 percent by volume in 2014](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/sales-of-chicken-declines-in-uk-likely-from-campylobacter-news/), causing some analysts to correlate the trend with a growing number of *Campylobacter* illness reports. In response, some retailers in the country have [introduced additional measures](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/uk-supermarkets-under-pressure-over-campylobacter-contamintion/) to reduce the risk of *Campylobacter* exposure. *Campylobacter* is a bacteria known as one of the major causes of foodborne illness. Symptoms of infection typically last for one week and include abdominal cramping, fever, and nausea.