According to a June 17, 2014, report from Brasilia, at least 40 volunteers at the World Cup soccer tournament there were sickened after a Saturday luncheon served to about 300 people. Health surveillance officials said the symptoms included abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting and had occurred just before the match between Switzerland and Ecuador. Luncheon meals were catered by a company from Campinas, officials said, and were trucked in from the São Paulo area (a distance of about 500 miles) and had “arrived at the right temperature.” However, the source of the bacteria might have been a “white sauce supplied by another company,” which had not been frozen. This incident was said to be the only reported “case of food poisoning” during the World Cup so far. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) recruits and trains about 15,000 volunteers to assist with various World Cup events and provides their travel expenses and all meals during the month-long tournament. One of this year’s World Cup sponsors is Moy Park, the giant UK poultry processor which recently announced it was investing about $1.7 million to help fight Campylobacter through “cutting-edge research and practices.” Projects reportedly involve about 600 farms in Northern Ireland and England and “pioneering on-farm testing” to provide flock status information via text message. The Food Standards Agency calls Campylobacter “the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK,” and notes that it “is considered responsible for more than 280,000 cases of food poisoning each year.” A FSA study done in 2007-08 found that Campylobacter was present in 65 percent of the fresh chicken samples tested. Recent research by the British Poultry Council revealed that nearly 70 percent of UK consumers buy and consume poultry more than any other meat. That compares to 16 percent who buy and consume beef, 11 percent who prefer pork and 4 percent who favor lamb. The research was done in preparation for their Food Safety Week (June 16-22).
