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Top retailers to do their own campylobacter testing
Overall, campylobacter levels in shop-bought chickens have steadily fallen since the FSA began sampling.
FSA will now focus on smaller retailers 
 
The UK’s top nine supermarket chains are set to carry out campylobacter testing on their own chickens, and will publish results on their websites, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced.

Campylobacter surveys of fresh shop-bought chickens have been carried out by the FSA since 2014. However, the FSA will no longer include the nine biggest retailers in its survey, following discussions with the industry.

Major retailers and producers have made significant progress in reducing campylobacter levels in their chickens. In light of this, the FSA says it now plans to focus its efforts on smaller establishments, where it believes further improvements are needed.

Overall, campylobacter levels in shop-bought chickens have steadily fallen since the FSA began sampling. The last set of results showed 48.8 per cent of chicken skin samples tested positive, compared to 73 per cent in 2015.

Therefore, the focus of the next retail survey will be on smaller retailers, independent traders and market stalls, as these are likely to be supplied by smaller processors. Generally, these have not made the same level of improvements as the bigger chains.

Meanwhile, the nine large retailers have agreed to publish their own results on their consumer websites. Sampling and analyses will be carried out according to the FSA’s robust protocols, to ensure the results are comparable.

The FSA will have access to the raw data from all retailers, and reserves the right to comment publicly on them. The food watchdog says it will be monitoring their results very closely to ensure they continue to show improvements in campylobacter levels.

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Vets to run marathon for World Animal Protection

News Story 1
 Two recently graduated veterinary surgeons will be running the London Marathon in April to raise money for the charity World Animal Protection.

Alex Bartlett and Maeve O'Neill plan to run the race together if they are given the same start times.

Dr O'Neill said: "You're always limited in what you can do to help animals, so it is nice to raise money for a charity that helps animals around the world."

Dr Bartlett added: "I have never run a marathon before and am excited to run my first one for such a good cause!"

Both Dr Bartlett and Dr O'Neill have fundraising pages online. 

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News Shorts
BSAVA releases new Guide to Procedures

The British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) has published a new edition of its Guide to Procedures for Small Animal Practice.

It has added four new procedures; cystostomy tube placement, endotracheal intubation, point-of-care ultrasound and wet-to-dry dressings.

BSAVA says that it is an essential step-by-step guide to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed in practice. The textbook includes new images and illustrations, as well as high-definition videos for use prior to procedures.

Nick Bexfield and Julia Riggs, editors of the new edition, said: "We have built upon the success of the previous editions by responding to the feedback received from the BSAVA readership, and hope this new guide helps to further increase the confidence and accuracy with which these procedures are performed."

Print copies are available in the BSAVA store, with a digital version in the BSAVA library.