Tyson signs beef supply agreement with retail giant

Retail giant Costco and Tyson Foods have struck a new beef trimming supply deal based on the testing for the pathogen E. coli, in a bid to boost hamburger safety after a damaging New York Times report emerged on Saturday (Oct 3).

Costco's food safety director Craig Wilson said the new agreement allows Costco to test Tyson's trimmings before they are mixed with those from other suppliers.

The USDA encourages such testing to make hamburger safer, but the NYT report alleged that some of the largest slaughterhouses resisted the testing for fear that one grinder's discovery of E. coli will lead to a mass beef recall.

Wilson said Costco test ingredients for the pathogen and that Tyson had previously refused to sell trimmings to them for that reason.

However, a Tyson spokesman refuted that claim, saying Tyson did not prohibit grinders from testing and that some buyers did conduct their own testing, even beyond the testing that Tyson performs.