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Centraal Bureau Levensmiddelenhandel

CBL

The Dutch Food Retail Association represents the Dutch supermarket organisations and food service companies.

Lobbying Activity

Response to Commission Regulation laying down a Campylobacter process hygiene criterion

21 Mar 2017

The Dutch Food Retail Association (CBL) is grateful for the opportunity to provide a comment on the proposal of the European Commission for a European Process Hygiene Criterion (PHC) for Campylobacter in broiler carcases. We welcome a harmonised European criterion, but we also have some concerns. In the Netherlands the industry uses a private PHC for Campylobacter which is n=5, c=3, m=1.000 and M=10.000 (this is agreed on by the ministry). The samples for this criterion are taken from breast skin. In general breast skin is less contaminated than neck skin. The sampling on the neck skin will lead to more counts and comes on top of the more strict criterion that the EC proposes (which is n=50, c=20, c=15 and c=10 in 2025). This will make compliance more difficult. As said before we highly welcome a harmonised European approach. We would like to stress that it is important that there is one criterion that is feasible for every Member State. Every country will have to implement and maintain this criterion in order to keep a level playing field.
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