U.S. study: E. coli found in half of cattle at feedlots

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USDA considers new controls on cattle production and beef processing

 

Wednesday, March 01, 2000

 

By Philip Brasher, The Associated Press

 

WASHINGTON -- About half the cattle at the nation's feed- lots carry the deadly

E. coli bacteria during the summer -- making it at least 10 times more common

than previously thought, government research shows.

 

The study by Agriculture Department scientists doesn't mean that E. coli O157:H7

is any more likely to show up in the supermarket.

 

But USDA officials, who outlined the findings yesterday, said they are

considering new controls on cattle production and beef processing.

 

The research " requires us to re-examine our policies and standards for dealing

with this difficult organism, " Thomas Billy, administrator of USDA's Food Safety

and Inspection Service, said at a conference in Arlington, Va.

 

The bacteria, which is most commonly found in ground beef, kills about 60 people

each year and sickens an estimated 73,000 more, according to the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention.

 

The department's findings, which will be published in April's Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences, are based on detection methods that are far more

sensitive than previously used.

 

The occurrence of E. coli in feed- lots drops to 1 percent during the winter,

but scientists found that 83 percent of the cattle they studied had been exposed

to the bacteria at some point.

 

Calves can pick up the bacteria during the birth process, while other cattle get

it from manure, scientists say. Changes in feeding methods and transportation

have been shown to reduce the incidence of E. coli.

 

Consumer groups say the government needs to require far more extensive testing

of cattle and beef to prevent people from being exposed to the germs.

 

Testing is now required only on ground beef, a program that started after

tainted hamburger killed several children in Washington state in 1993.

 

The incidence of E. coli in cattle is believed to vary by region as well as time

of the year.

 

An industry-funded study released yesterday found a wide variation of infection

rates at packing plants.

 

At least 18 percent of the cattle headed for slaughter at a dozen plants were

carrying the bacteria.

 

Two of the plants had no infected cattle, and the average rate for the 12

facilities was 3.56 percent.

 

The bacteria was found on 0.44 percent of the fresh carcasses sampled in the

study.

 

But no E. coli showed up once the carcasses had gone through the plants' usual

cleaning process, which generally involves steam, hot water or organic acid

rinses.

 

The study shows that E. coli testing should be done earlier in the packing

process so infected meat is caught before it is processed, industry officials

said.

 

" It is our hope that this data will encourage USDA to re-evaluate its

ground-beef sampling program, " said James H. Hodges, president of the American

Meat Industry Foundation, which sponsored the research.

 

" A carcass testing program for E. coli O157:H7 is more practicable and will help

ensure that the safest and most wholesome product possible enters commerce. "

 

Scientists are working on additional methods of treating meat to kill a variety

of pathogens, including E. coli.

 

One is an anti-microbial agent, known as lactoferrin, that is a naturally

occurring protein in the milk of mammals, including humans.

 

Laboratory research presented at yesterday's USDA meeting indicated lactoferrin

was effective against more than 30 different kinds of harmful bacteria,

including E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter.

 

Lactoferrin does not change the taste, flavor, color or appearance of meat and

isn't harmful to humans, the researchers said.

 

" We have borrowed a page from Mother Nature, " said A.S. Naidu, a medical

microbiologist at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, where the

treatment was developed.

 

" We have taken a natural compound with anti-microbial properties and discovered

a way to make it work on meat surfaces to provide a protective barrier against

harmful bacteria. "

 

The government recently approved the use of irradiation to treat raw meat, but

it is unclear how customers will react to that.

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20000301ecolihealth3.asp

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