To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the main reasons for food poisoning outbreaks according to his departmental research; and how many of these relate to temperature control.
We do not hold figures centrally on the reasons for reported outbreaks of food poisoning.
| Outbreaks of bacterial food poisoning and salmonella infection by location | ||||||||
| 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 11986 | |
| Private Homes | 325 | 297 | 410 | 467 | 439 | 367 | 259 | 326 |
| Restaurants/receptions | 99 | 89 | 88 | 70 | 96 | 94 | 64 | 71 |
| Hospitals | 37 | 37 | 24 | 39 | 37 | 37 | 36 | 33 |
| Institutions | 20 | 17 | 11 | 28 | 25 | 13 | 19 | 19 |
| Schools | 13 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Shops | 12 | 5 | 17 | 5 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 4 |
| Canteens | 11 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 10 | 9 |
| Farms | 8 | 8 | — | 16 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| Infected abroad | 7 | 5 | — | 4 | 7 | 14 | 9 | 12 |
| Other | 2 | 9 | 69 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 24 | 18 |
| Unspecified | 31 | 26 | 27 | 52 | 26 | 14 | ||
| TOTAL | 534 | 518 | 640 | 702 | 693 | 639 | 463 | 516 |
| 1 Provisional. | ||||||||
Source:
PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre.
Note:
The data relates to the place where the outbreaks occurred; no information is held on where the food was prepared.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) salmonella, (b) campylobactor and (c) listeria outbreaks were reported in each year since 1979; and what estimate he has of the level of unreported outbreaks.
The information requested is available until 1987 and is as follows.
| Reports of outbreaks of salmonellosis, food and water borne campylobacter enteritis and listeriosis since 1979 | |||
| Number of outbreaks | |||
| Year | Salmonellosis | Food and water borne Campylobacter enteritis | Listeriosis |
| 1979 | 2455 | 3 | — |
| 1980 | 2439 | 3 | — |
| 1981 | 568 | 3 | 1 |
| 1982 | 612 | 3 | — |
| 1983 | 594 | 3 | — |
| 1984 | 540 | 24 | — |
| 1985 | 372 | 25 | — |
| 1986 | 269 | 15 | — |
| 1987 | 294 | 18 | — |
| Notes: | |||
| 1 Reported to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre. | |||
| 2 Reports from PHLS and hospital laboratories only. | |||
| 3 Information not available. | |||
Studies on a number of food poisoning outbreaks reported between 1970 and 1982 showed that inadequate temperature control was the main factor contributing to the growth of food poisoning organisms in food, but the problem can arise at any stage form production to consumption.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of food poisoning outbreaks were attributed to (a) catering type establishments, (b) retail, (c) home and (d) others in the last 10 years.
the table shows the number of outbreaks of bacterial food poisoning and salmonella infection reported from 1979 to 1986 (the last year for which figures are currently available).