August 18, 2014

USDA announces new measures to trace contaminated beef

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced new procedures that will facilitate a more rapid tracing of contaminated ground beef back to its source.

The changes will help in the removal of such meat products from commerce, and find the root cause of the incident to prevent it from recurring.

These measures build on other initiatives which the agency has instituted this summer to improve the safety of ground beef, including a proposed requirement that retailers keep records of their ground beef source suppliers as well as new laboratory methods which will test products for multiple pathogens at one time.

"A critical component of preventing foodborne illness is quickly identifying sources of contamination and removing unsafe products from store shelves," said Brian Ronholm, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety. "The expedited trace-back procedures being announced will allow FSIS to take action more quickly, which will make a significant difference in food safety investigations and in preventing foodborne illnesses."

Under the new trace-back procedures, FSIS will conduct immediate investigations at businesses where ground beef tests positive for E. coli O157:H7 during initial testing and at suppliers that provided source materials. These trace-back investigations will begin as soon as FSIS receives a presumptive positive result and the grinding facility provides supplier information.

Previously, FSIS began investigations at the grinding facility only after a presumptive positive test result was confirmed, which can take two days. A similar investigation of the grinding facility's suppliers would have taken place 30 days later, and more intensive investigations of suppliers will also begin immediately. Preliminary investigations at the point of a presumptive positive test result can save FSIS valuable time.

As part of the trace-back investigation, FSIS will review establishment records to determine whether the grinding or supplying establishment's food safety system experienced a breakdown. The agency will also determine whether the supplying establishment shipped product that may be contaminated to other grinding facilities or further processors. If so, FSIS will take steps to have such product removed from commerce.

FSIS estimates that dozens more recalls may occur once these new protections are in place.

The improved procedures will be fully implemented 60 days after publication in the Federal Register on October 14, 2014.