Food Poisoning

Levels of food poisoning

The Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) maintains a database of food poisoning cases across England and Wales. Campylobacter is responsible for most cases of food poisoning (see figure above) as well as the vast majority of GP visits and hospital referrals. Salmonella causes the greatest number of deaths (119 deaths in 2000).

However, most cases of food poisoning are not reported to the PHLS. For a case to be registered on the database an infected individual must consult their GP, the GP must arrange for a specimen (usually of faeces) to be tested in a microbiology laboratory, the laboratory needs to identify a micro-organism and then report the result to the PHLS. It has been estimated that on average only 1 in 136 cases of IID is reported to the PHLS.1 This ratio varies between diseases: nearly all cases of E.coli O157, which causes very severe disease, are reported compared with 1 in 343 cases of Clostridium perfringens, which is difficult to detect in laboratory samples. In spite of this variation, laboratory reports are considered to be the most reliable indicator of food poisoning trends in this country and, compared with arrangements in other countries, are notable for their national coverage. The FSA is therefore using the laboratory reports to monitor progress in reducing the incidence of food poisoning.

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