In June 2015 Faccenda Food System was the first slaughter house in UK to introduce SonoSteam in full production on one of two production lines. The second line followed June 2016. Cargill installed their first SonoSteam system at Hereford in November 2015 and the second in May 2016.
Cargill’s announcement when they introduced SonoSteam technology as part of farm-to-fork commitment to reduce Campylobacter levels.
“Chris Hall, Fresh Chicken Director for Cargill Meats Europe, said “Cargill takes its responsibility for food safety very seriously …. We have been following the development of new technologies very closely and made the commitment that we would adopt one as soon as it proved effective. We are very excited to be taking these next steps with FORCE Technology.”
Faccenda supplies around half of the poultry to retailer ASDA and the percentage above 1,000 cfu/g has dropped from initial 31% in the period between February 2014 and February 2015 to 11% in October-December 2015.
– UK Survey of Campylobacter contamination in fresh retail chicken from Oct – Dec 2015
Retailer Morrisons, has now nearly all their birds processed by SonoSteam and delivered from Cargill. Comparing the July-September 2015 FSA survey with the latest published survey from the FSA in October-December, it shows a drop from 25% to 5%, and positioning Morrisons as the retailer in UK with the lowest amount above 1,000 cfu/g.
“Process innovation is being implemented across our supply base for example: At the end of 2015 our major chicken supplier installed a SonoSteam system. This steam/ ultrasound system has been scientifically proven to significantly reduce Campylobacter levels. This process is applied to 100% of chickens supplied from the site and is having a positive impact on our test results”
Initiatives like the FSA target are spreading to other governmental agencies, like SCoPAFF and EFSA, where a process hygiene criterion is now underway in EU.
“The purpose is to lay down a process hygiene criterion for Campylobacter in broiler carcases … The majority of Member States welcomed the document.”
We, at SonoSteam, are ready to help both slaughter houses, retailers, and consumers by implementing our technology, thus creating a safer food production and consumption.