Harry Hull, of St. Paul, a pediatrician who served as the state epidemiologist for the Minnesota Health Department from 2000 to ’06 and is currently a consultant in infectious disease epidemiology, writes in AgWeek that, .jpg)
“A year of eating dangerously: 2007 was year of wake-up (re)calls for beef” (Agweek, Jan. 7) should capture the attention of everyone concerned about the future of the beef industry. E. coli kills kids. It’s time for industry to accept that the processing methods currently being used for ground beef cannot achieve the level of safety that Americans both expect and deserve.
"Beef producers and processors have made valiant efforts that have reduced, but certainly not eliminated, E. coli from ground beef. Millions of dollars have been spent to ‘fix’ the problem. Current technologies – steam pasteurization, acid rinses and sprays – can eliminate more than 99 percent of E. coli in ground beef. The percent of contaminated ground beef samples remained steady at 0.17 for three years before going up sharply to 0.20 in 2007. That means that one out of 500 pounds of hamburger contains deadly E. coli and millions of pounds of contaminated hamburger still reach the consumer. This is unacceptable from a public health perspective and would be an embarrassment to any other industry.
"There are no clear answers as to why recalls and illness increased dramatically last year. Some companies made mistakes but others had serious problems despite using used the most advanced technology available. More sophisticated tests and increased testing rates are likely to yield even more recalls in 2008. …
"While ground beef should be thoroughly cooked and properly handled, we know that is not the case in many home kitchens and far too many restaurants. When E. coli contaminated food makes it to the table, children get sick, suffer and die. Industry has a legal responsibility to make sure that products are safe so that our kids remain healthy. The permanent solution to the problem – irradiation – is already in hand and we need to use it.
"Irradiation is a USDA/FDA-approved process and already is being used by several visionary companies, including Schwan’s and Omaha Steaks. Many of our spices and an increasing amount of imported produce are irradiated. Pasteurization made milk both nutritious and safe for our children. Irradiation can so the same for ground beef. Let’s stop dithering and do what is right for our kids. Ground beef should be routinely irradiated."