Processors are not allowed to sell ground beef that is tainted by E. coli because the product is considered most likely to carry the bacteria and pose the biggest risk to consumer. But it’s perfectly legal to market whole cuts of beef that might be contaminated by E. coli, and the government doesn’t test them for the bacteria, either.
That could be changing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering new regulations for the sale of steaks and other beef cuts, a move that officials in the meatpacking industry say is unjustified and unnecessary.
Donna Rosenbaum, executive director of Safe Tables Our Priority, a consumer advocacy group, said it’s "way past time" for the USDA to take steps to prevent the sale of contaminated beef cuts.
"It takes such a small amount of this to make a person sick that putting the burden on consumers for controlling something that is that small to protect their children is just not right," she said.
But Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute, a packing industry trade group, said that any raw product can carry harmful pathogens.
The nation’s most recent food poisoning outbreak involves fresh tomatoes. A highly toxic form of E. coli is carried in cattle manure and can contaminate beef during processing. The USDA has focused its prevention efforts on keeping the bacteria out of ground beef. The bacteria get mixed into the beef during the grinding process and won’t be killed unless the meat is cooked thoroughly.
Steaks, roasts and other whole cuts are considered less risky because the bacteria are on the outside of the beef and are killed relatively quickly when the meat is cooked. Boyle, of the American Meat Institute, said there is no proven case of a steak or other whole beef cut causing an E. coli outbreak. Declaring E. coli an adulterant could trigger costly burdens on packers. Beef that is legally adulterated must be treated to kill the bacteria, either through cooking or irradiation. If already sold, the beef has to be recalled.
Cooking the meat "very effectively, completely, destroys the surface pathogens, the surface bacteria," said Boyle, whose organization represents such beef packers as Tyson and Cargill. Although there’s a chance that a steak with the bacteria on it could contaminate kitchen surfaces or other foods, that doesn’t justify new regulations, Boyle said.
Jim Dickson, an Iowa State University professor who has done consulting work for the meat industry, said he is concerned that expanding testing and prevention programs to cover steaks and roasts would distract from efforts to keep ground beef safe. USDA laboratories already are maxed out testing ground beef, he said. The department analyzed 12,200 samples at processors and stores last year and had tested another 4,700 through mid-May.
"I would rather see a focus on the areas we know to be very clearly problematic than to be committing an enormous amount of resources to something that might not be as big of an issue," he said.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080621/BUSINESS/806210336/1001/NEWS
Leave Your Comments