Tag Archives: non-O157

Ag dept. delays start for additional E. coli testing

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The U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service announced on Feb. 8 it is extending the implementation date for routine sampling of six additional shiga-toxin producing E. coli serogroups (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121 and O145) for 90 days, according to the North American Meat Processors Association. The date was extended from March 5 to June 4.

NAMP says the extension was granted to give extra time to establishments so they could validate their test methods and detect these pathogens prior to entering the commerce stream.

Initially, FSIS plans to sample raw beef manufacturing trimmings and other raw ground beef product components both imported and produced domestically, plus test the serogroups’ samples.

Why wait for government redux: US food companies protecting against several forms of E. coli

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The New York Times reports this morning that two major American companies, Costco Wholesale and Beef Products Inc., have gotten tired of waiting for regulators to act on non-O157 STECs (shiga-toxin producing E. coli) and are proceeding with their own plans to protect customers.

Last month, Costco, one of the nation’s largest food retailers, quietly began requiring its suppliers of bagged produce, including salad greens and mixes, apple slices and baby carrots, to test for a broad range of toxic E. coli.

“We know this is where we have to go and there’s no reason to wait,” said Craig Wilson, the food safety director of Costco. In the last two weeks, he said, most produce suppliers have added a test that can detect the strain from the European outbreak as well (E. coli O104).

The company also plans to test all of the ground beef sold at its warehouse stores. Costco operates a large ground beef plant in Tracy, Calif., and Mr. Wilson said the plant recently began evaluating testing procedures to detect the broader range of E. coli in the hamburger it makes and the beef trimmings that go into it.

As an added step, the company plans to ask suppliers of the trimmings to do their own testing, starting later this summer, he said.

Costco’s new testing requirements come as the federal government continues to drag its feet on what to do about the expanding E. coli threat. After four years of study, the United States Department of Agriculture finished drafting rules in January for how the industry should handle the “Big Six” E. coli in ground beef.

But the proposal has been stalled within the Office of Management and Budget, which reviews most federal regulations before they are released. Details of the proposal are confidential, but many in the industry expect that the rules would require testing or even make it illegal to sell ground beef that contained the additional strains of toxic E. coli.

The landscape is changing partly because tests created by U.S.D.A. scientists that can quickly pinpoint the presence in food of the “Big Six” E. coli are now being developed for commercial sale by test-kit companies. Some kits are already on the market.

A table of non- E. coli O157 STEC outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/nonO157outbreaks

Why wait for government; Beef Products Inc. to hold and test for 6 non-O157 E. coli

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According to a press release, Beef Products, Inc. (BPI), the world’s leading producer of lean beef, has announced that the company is expanding its food safety program by testing for an additional six pathogenic forms of E. coli.

The new policy is part of the company’s hold-and-test quality assurance program through which BPI samples its lean beef prior to sale, holds the lean beef, and tests for the presence of pathogens. Only after determining the test results are negative will beef be sold or used for raw ground beef.

Craig Letch, BPI’s Director of Quality Assurance, said "BPI led the hold and test initiative and has applied its own rigorous program for more than 15 years, and we are now expanding our testing even further to include testing for these other potentially harmful bacteria."

"Our goal is to provide the safest and highest quality beef. Using newly available testing methods, we are able to add tests for these additional STECs beyond O157:H7, which will help us further ensure the safety and quality of our lean beef and that consumers are better protected from potential exposure to these harmful pathogens."

"With the test methods still developing for these six strains, the recent situation in Europe convinced us that it was time to add tests for these other potentially harmful pathogens now," said Letch. "While this additional testing will add significantly to the cost of BPI’s current hold and test program, our decision to voluntarily start this.

Will the results be public?