USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service public meeting
Expanding Focus on Six Groups of E.coli Bacteria
FSIS Under Secretary Richard Raymond opened the meeting by saying,
"You certainly may hear things you don't agree with... Progress won't occur if we're just wanting to avoid discomfort by maintaining the old status quo. The E. coli bug is obviously not satisfied with the status quo and neither should we be."
The testing is said to focus on six groups of E. coli bacteria - 026, 0111, 0103, 0121, 045 and 0145 - which are responsible for 75 percent of non-0157 illnesses. The true incidence of non-0157 human illness is difficult to define, due to limited awareness and non-uniform surveillance.
Source: www.meatingplace.com/Membersonly/webNews/details.aspx
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service Public Meeting
The meeting held in Washington, April 9 - 10th 2008 is a public forum to discuss the issue E.coli Testing. The Food Safety and Inspection Service ("FSIS") are looking at improving policies for food safety
If approved the agency plans to:
- Define applicable products from slaughter/dressing and further processing operations
- Issue a Federal Register Notice in the form of an interpretive rules
- Establish an effective date that ensures sufficient time to address seamless implementation for both domestic and imported products
- Issue compliance guidelines
- Issue policy implementation instructions and train FSIS inspection personnel
- Conduct outreach to the regulated industry
There will be a thirty day period of time for comment after the meeting.
www.meatingplace.com
USDA sets meeting to air next steps on E. coli 0517
Mar 28, 2008 (CIDRAP News)
WASHINGTON, DC
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to hold a public meeting Apr 9 and 10 to gather major stakeholders to consider the agency's next move in the serious battle against Escherichia coli 0517:H7 in beef.
"It is time for another series of bold, strong moves based on knowledge and science to produce further significant reductions in illness attributed to the products we regulate," says Dr. Richard Raymond, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety.
In 2007 there was a surge in E. coli contamination and associated illnesses and meat recalls, including a 21-million-pound ground beef recall by Topps Meat Co. 1 As a result of the surge, the USDA has promised a number of new safety steps, including increased product testing and faster meat recalls.
Other notable issues being discussed will include the "growing evidence" that raw beef products such as primal cuts (major sections of the carcass) and boxed beef should be considered adulterated if they have E. coli contamination, which they are currently not.
Original Article from CIDRAP: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/contents/fs/food-disease/news/
mar2808ecoli.html
1 Topps Meat Co.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topps_Meat_Company
Beef Industry Losing Ground to E.coli
After an apparent improvement in controlling E.coli, the product recalls in 2007 proved the industry has not won the war. In a year where the USA is one recall away from matching a recall record set in 2000 and matched in 2002 the industry is at a loss for an explanation as to why the increase in reported cases and recalls is happening.
Even though the beef industry currently spends upwards of $350 million dollars a year in pathogen detection and prevention, the U.S. Agriculture Department has issued new guidelines in October urging the meat industry to adopt the latest technology to combat harmful forms of E. coli.
The full article is available here.
Pulled Pot Pies
After the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked 152 cases of salmonella in 31 states, the food giant ConAgra has made a voluntary move to request that all stores carrying their "Banquet" and "Generic Brand" chicken and turkey pot pies to stop selling them until an investigation has concluded.
Currently there is only a "Consumer Alert" about their product and both ConAgra and the U.S. Department of Agriculture feel that a recall is not required until any kind of connection can be found from a specific product or production date. However Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman from ConAgra states that "From the consumer perspective, there’s not much difference". Asking the consumer not consume the pies is the same as a recall. ConAgra officials believe that the pot pies are safe when they are thoroughly cooked but are asking consumers not to eat the pot pies.
Salmonella sickens about 40,000 people a year in the U.S. with symptoms ranging from abdominal pain, vomiting, and in cases where weaker immune systems are involved could lead to death.
Warning of a Possible Salmonella-Pot Pie Link - New York Times
Topps Ground Beef Recall Ends 65 Year Run:
What started as a recall of 331,000 lbs of ground beef quickly escalated into the second largest recall of ground beef in U.S. History by recalling 21.7 million lbs. of ground beef due to the potentially lethal E.coli bacteria. The USDA, although having found proof of E.coli on Sept. 7 waited 18 days for "more conclusive testing" before issuing the recall of the product denoting "a reasonable probability that eating the food will cause health problems or death." according to the Waco Tribune Herald.
According to the New York Times, "Amanda Eamich, from the United States Department of Agriculture, said that they had served Topps a "notice of intended enforcement," a move just short of suspending the rest of the company's meat production." Due to the recall of the product, Topps announced that they would be closing the factory down.
For the complete story in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/us/06topps.html?ex=1349755200&en=4fbe38426f2207e2&ei=5124
&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Flooding Raises Concerns about Disease Epidemics
As the death toll climbs to 2200 in South Asia's worst floods in 30 years, officials begin to worry about the potential for a severe disease epidemic. "Tens of thousands of people have been admitted to hospitals this month with diarrhea and other water borne diseases" Habiba Khatun of the Bangladeshi Health Department said Sunday.
In Nepal the prevention of a disease epidemic has taken top priority as Ishar Regmi, an official at Nepal's home ministry, reported "We are in high alert regarding epidemic breakout from water borne disease in the flood and landslide affected districts".