Raw ground beef often tainted with E. coli

[Guest guest]

Updated 4:24 PM ET March 1, 2000

By Julie Vorman

 

WASHINGTON, Mar 01 (Reuters) -- Most raw US meat processed into ground beef

patties may be tainted with

tiny amounts of the illness-causing E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria, according to a

draft study released Tuesday by US

Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.

 

The new estimate adds to the growing evidence that the sometimes-deadly bug

is much more common in live

cattle and carcasses than previously believed by federal regulators.

 

American consumer groups have stepped up pressure for the USDA to require the

meat industry to adopt testing

throughout the production and distribution chain, a move opposed by firms who

say broad testing will not make

food safer.

 

An estimated 89% of US beef ground into patties contains some E. coli

0157:H7, although the actual amount may

be extremely small, said Mark Powell, an epidemiologist with the USDA's Food

Safety and Inspection Service.

 

The bacterium is one of the deadliest forms of foodborne illness, causing

fever, bloody diarrhea and even kidney

failure. Outbreaks of E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria are most often linked to

undercooked hamburgers, and usually

affect small children, the elderly, and others with weak immune systems.

 

Health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate

that 52 Americans die annually from

food with the bacteria, and 62,000 others are sickened.

 

" The bottom line is that E. coli 0157:H7 is pretty ubiquitous in ground beef,

but at very, very low levels, " Powell

said at a USDA meeting to present a draft assessment of how risky ground beef

is for consumers. The

document, which will be finalized and made public this spring, is expected to

help guide any changes in the

USDA's meat safety standards.

 

The 89% prevalence rate applies to huge batches of raw meat -- typically

3,000 pounds or more -- mixed

together before being ground into hamburger, Powell said. Each of the batches

may contain less than 100 of the

microscopic E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria.

 

" It may be a small amount but in the right temperature conditions, that rate

could rapidly increase, " Powell said.

Fewer than 10 of the organisms can cause illness.

 

Meat industry officials at the meeting disputed the estimate as based on

faulty data. They said it did not reflect

rigorous testing by meat grinders who produce patties for restaurant chains

and other buyers with high

standards.

 

But consumer groups point to the data as yet another reason why more safety

testing is needed all along the

production line by both the government and meat plants.

 

" Like throwing darts at a dart board, although the government hits the target

occasionally, it is clearly missing a

lot of the problem, " said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety for

the Center for Science in the Public

Interest. " The (testing) program is not systematic. "

 

The meat industry said it wants to focus on preventive measures to control E.

coli 0157:H7, but acknowledged

there may be a role for more testing in the slaughterhouse.

 

The American Meat Institute, a trade group, said a new industry-funded study

showed a series of steps in beef

packing plants were effective in killing the bacteria.

 

Fewer than 1% of carcasses treated with organic acid, steam or hot water

rinses had E. coli 0157:H7, compared

to 3.5% before the treatments, the study said.

 

If the USDA required systematic carcass testing for the bacteria, slaughter

plants could remove contaminated

ones before they are processed into meat, the industry group said.

 

" It is our hope that this data will encourage USDA to reevaluate its ground

beef sampling program, " said Jim

Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute Foundation. " A carcass

testing program for E. coli 0157:H7 is

more practical and will help ensure that the safest and most wholesome

product possible enters commerce. "

 

The new USDA estimate of contamination in raw meat destined for ground beef

adds to growing data that E. coli

0157:H7 is not as rare as regulators once thought.

 

USDA researchers in Nebraska last autumn found the bug in 50% of feedlot

cattle being fattened for slaughter

during summer months. The rate plunged to 1% in winter months for reasons

scientists cannot yet explain.

 

A new tool to stop contamination was offered by California researchers who

said a naturally-occurring protein in

cow's milk can be sprayed on raw meat to starve the bacteria.

 

The use of lactoferrin as a protective shield on meat for humans mimics how

the same protein protects young

calves from harmful bacteria while their own immune systems develop, said

Narain Naidu of California State

Polytechnic in Pomona.

 

" This is a natural food safety solution, " said Naidu, who is asking for

approval to try the treatment at a

commercial ground beef plant. " It's consumer- and producer-friendly. "

 

 

http://news.excite.com/news/r/000301/16/health-psb

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