October 8, 2010

US mulls tougher E. coli rules for beef processors

The Obama administration in the US is looking to mandate beef processors to check meat for more strains of the E. coli bacteria after a recent spate in foodborne illness outbreaks and food recalls in the US.

Right now, only strain O157:H7 is classified as a so-called adulterant, causing specific danger in ground beef.

Other strains can be quite deadly, for instance E. coli 0111, which is known to have been responsible for the death of a teenager who died of the relatively common strain, explained the Agriculture Department's food safety chief, Elisabeth Hagen.

The meat industry is fighting the regulation to add E. coli strains to regulations. According to the American Meat Institute this will needlessly divert scarce resources away from enhancing food safety prevention efforts.

The industry group argued that there is no speedy way in which to test for the bacteria and there is insufficient information to understand E. coli's occurrence in beef.

Hagen said increased focus would be placed on food tracking and enforcing animal welfare regulations.