29th May 2026
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a warning after new figures showed Salmonella infections in England reached their highest level in a decade during 2025.
According to the latest data, there were 10,406 confirmed Salmonella cases in England last year, slightly higher than the 10,389 recorded in 2024 and far above levels seen earlier in the decade.
Campylobacter infections, another major cause of food poisoning, also remain persistently high.
The government press release stresses that these infections are commonly linked to contaminated food such as poultry, meat, eggs, unpasteurised dairy products, raw vegetables and fruit. Health officials also warned that infections can spread through poor kitchen hygiene and cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods. Young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are considered particularly vulnerable.
The UKHSA says the rise is worrying because gastrointestinal infections have remained consistently high rather than falling back after the pandemic period. Officials are urging consumers to follow the “4 Cs” of food safety — chilling, cleaning, cooking and avoiding cross-contamination — while also advising people with symptoms not to prepare food for others until at least 48 hours after recovery.
The figures also reveal the continuing danger posed by Listeria infections. Although case numbers are much lower than Salmonella or Campylobacter, listeriosis remains particularly dangerous for elderly people, pregnant women and vulnerable patients. In England and Wales, 28 people died from listeriosis-related illness during 2025.
So what is the position in Scotland?
Scotland operates under separate public health and food safety systems involving Public Health Scotland and Food Standards Scotland rather than direct control by UKHSA. However, the overall trend appears broadly similar north of the border.
Scottish surveillance data has also shown rising levels of foodborne infections in recent years. Reports indicate Scotland experienced increases across several gastrointestinal illnesses including Campylobacter and Salmonella during 2024. Public Health Scotland reportedly recorded 964 Salmonella laboratory reports in 2024 compared with 742 in 2023, while Campylobacter infections reached their highest annual level in a decade.
Although Scotland’s total population is much smaller than England’s, the increase still raises concerns about food safety standards, food handling and infection control. Scotland has also been involved in wider UK investigations into foodborne outbreaks linked to contaminated products sold across Britain. Earlier investigations included Salmonella outbreaks linked to processed meat products sold in supermarkets, with confirmed Scottish cases among those affected.
One important difference is that Scotland’s food safety system is somewhat more centralised through Food Standards Scotland, which was created after the horsemeat scandal partly to provide stronger oversight and public confidence in Scottish food regulation. However, Scottish authorities face many of the same pressures as England, including increasingly complex food supply chains, imported products, rising demand on environmental health services and budget pressures on local authorities.
The wider issue may therefore be bigger than simple hygiene advice. Public health experts increasingly point to pressures within modern food production and distribution systems, where highly centralised supply chains can spread contamination widely before problems are identified. Rising temperatures linked to climate change may also contribute to higher bacterial growth risks during food production, storage and transport.
There are also questions about whether stretched inspection services and financial pressures on local government are weakening preventative food safety work across the UK. While officials continue to stress personal responsibility in food handling, critics argue that food safety increasingly depends on robust regulation and enforcement throughout the supply chain.
For consumers, the immediate advice remains straightforward: maintain good kitchen hygiene, cook food thoroughly, avoid cross-contamination and take extra care with vulnerable family members. But the fact that both England and Scotland are now seeing persistently elevated levels of foodborne illness suggests this is becoming a broader structural public health challenge rather than a temporary spike.