USDA taking action on E. coli, and about time too
October 26, 2007
According to news reports, the USDA has just announced that it plans to hold companies accountable for producing safe beef. USDA safety officials say they are taking aggressive steps (see list) to reduce outbreaks from E. coli and other pathogens. As I keep saying, companies know how to produce safe meat, but need some encouragement (translation: enforcement) to do so. The USDA absolutely has the mandate to enforce food safety regulations and let’s hope it really does.
The USDA page doesn’t include the single most important and effective way to reduce e. Coli 0157:H7 contamination > get beef cattle off grain feed, out of CAFO feedlots, and back on pasture. Everything else industrial farms, processors, and the USDA inspectors do to manage this industrial farm pathogen is equivalent to closing the barn door after the animals escape.
Comment by Anna — October 26, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
Maybe I don’t fully understand the process. This new list looks like they will be doing a lot more testing, but I wonder how long it takes from testing to getting results to pulling the meat off the market. It sounds like we will still get a good opportunity to eat contaminated fresh meat.
I keep thinking there needs to be more of a preventive cleaning process for the carcass after gutting it and before slicing and packaging the meats. And more of a preventive process in terms of separating the facilities used for handling the meat into pre-gutting and post-cleaning, much like we separate our kitchen utensils from use on raw chicken vs. cooked chicken and other foods.
Can somebody help me with this one? I still have a crisis of confidence, even with these new guidelines.
Comment by Sheila — October 26, 2007 @ 7:53 pm
I agree with Anna.
Pulling meat off the market is a waste of meat. Why not raise cattle naturally, then very little if any will be contaminated!
Comment by Jane — October 26, 2007 @ 8:07 pm
Hmmm…in that “taking aggressive steps” I’m not seeing anything about penalties, esp. penaltes resulting in significant business-affecting type fines. Nor, holding accountable the heads of such companies. Sorry, but I think that until there’s real accountability, most changes will be superficial rather than meaningful.
Comment by Jack at Fork & Bottle — October 27, 2007 @ 3:08 am
A symptom of the problem is e.Coli 0157:H7 contamination of the meat. The problem is as was well put in the book/movie Fast Food Nation:
There’s s*** in the meat!
Why not ban feed lots and get the cattle to pasture, which would get to the problem. Get the cattle out of the manure lagoons.
Comment by Daniel, Ithaca NY — October 29, 2007 @ 12:40 pm
The pathogenic e. Coli 0157:H7 starts in the feedlots (so that’s the best place to prevent contamination), but another hotspot is in the large, high speed (& USDA inspected) processing plants. To maximize profits, the line speeds are so fast that careful prevention of contamination during disembowelment is near impossible. Line speeds have been getting ever faster to provide cheaper meat (99 cent value meals), so I seriously doubt that corporate executives will consider slowing speed lines to clean up the meat (not just for cleaner meat, nor even for the miserable workers, who are often seriously injured from cuts and repetitive motion stresses because they have to work so fast). it is still probably cheaper for them to cull meat that tests poorly or pay fines than to slow down and do it carefully.
For our meals at home, if it isn’t venison from my sister and BIL’s hunting trips, I buy meat that is processed locally at a state licensed butcher shop in my area, from local farmers that I know. Then I can have my burger and eat it rare if I want to. No s**t in the meat!
Comment by Anna — October 31, 2007 @ 12:31 am