Out of sight, out of scope: the regulatory blind spot on foodborne viruses

Virologist Dr Martin D’Agostino explores what’s changing in the UK food landscape and why awareness of norovirus is so important for environmental health officers and food industry professionals.

With food safety often dominated by conversations involving bacterial pathogens, foodborne viruses can often be overlooked, yet norovirus is the leading cause of gastrointestinal foodborne illness in the UK and much of the developed world, whilst hepatitis A has been implicated in outbreaks related to imported food products.

As someone who has worked in food microbiology and virology for over 30 years, I’ve seen a gradual shift in terms of awareness of foodborne viruses, but there is still a lot of work to do.

What makes norovirus different?

Norovirus isn’t a new virus. It has been causing outbreaks for decades. But its unique features make it particularly troublesome:

• It doesn’t grow on food. Unlike bacteria, the virus is unable to multiply in or on food, however it is difficult to remove from food once it is there. Just a few particles transmitted via foods can lead to widespread illness.
• It survives in harsh conditions. Norovirus can persist on surfaces, in chilled foods, and on the surfaces of RTE foods for long periods of time.
• It spreads rapidly. A single infected food handler or a contaminated batch of salad can trigger large outbreaks.

For these reasons, norovirus is difficult to contain once it enters a food business or supply chain.

Why this matters now

In the UK, we’ve recently seen a shift with the introduction of statutory reporting for laboratory-confirmed norovirus cases. While this applies to clinical labs, the ripple effect will undoubtedly impact food safety teams too, particularly in understanding outbreak patterns and risk attribution where food has been implicated as the source. We are also at a junction where the dominant strain of norovirus is changing.

For environmental health officers, this means being better informed on:

• How food can become contaminated at different stages of production
• What surveillance data might suggest about transmission routes
• How to apply control measures in food settings where virus detection isn’t routinely done

Looking ahead

Foodborne viruses are no longer an emerging issue – they’re here and have been for some time, and they’re impacting real people and real businesses. My goal is to make these risks more visible, understandable, and manageable for those responsible for protecting our food supply.

I will be delivering a session on foodborne viruses and sharing practical steps for prevention at the CIEH Food Safety Conference on 9 July. For those interested in going deeper, I am also offering a practical half-day workshop in partnership with CIEH – Introduction to foodborne viruses.

As awareness continues to rise, equipping frontline professionals with the right tools will be essential to protect public health. I look forward to continuing the conversation on how we can build stronger defences against viral threats in food.