Poland reveals foodborne infection data for 2022

According to recently released data, Salmonella remained the top cause of food poisoning in Poland in 2022 despite the number of infections declining.

Findings come from a report on inspection work in 2022, including controls over the safety of food, published by the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS).

In 2022, 6,221 Salmonella infections related to food were confirmed. This is down from the previous year when 8,014 cases were recorded.

As part of the multi-country monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to Ferrero chocolate, intensified supervision was carried out from April to December 2022. A total of 87 suspected cases were reported, and of these, 38 were sequenced, but none belonged to the outbreak.

The number of establishments operating in the food sector under the supervision of authorities exceeded 560,000, an increase of more than 17,000 compared to 2021.

2022 illness data
A total of 629 cases caused by Campylobacter were registered in Poland, similar to the 631 patients in 2021.

Overall, 135 cases of listeriosis were reported in 2022, compared to 120 cases in 2021.

There were 27 infections caused by enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) compared to nine in 2021. E. coli was also linked to another 150 illnesses in 2022.

Yersinia was behind 183 cases in 2022 and 142 in 2021; 125 cases of staphylococcal food poisoning were reported as well as one Trichinella infection.

Poland’s battle to control Salmonella is well-documented. Data from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed Network (RASFF) for 2022 shows 190 Salmonella reports concerned poultry meat products from the country, although this is down from 2020 and 2021, and most reports were made by Poland.

Fifteen cases of botulism were noted, some of which were attributed to the tradition of home-canning foods in the country. This is up from eight cases in 2021.

In 2022, 18 people were poisoned from mushrooms, including 17 hospitalizations but no deaths. This increased from six in 2021.

More than, 57,100 viral infections were registered compared to 23,365 in 2021. Most were caused by rotaviruses but almost 6,000 were because of norovirus and 232 because of Hepatitis A.

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